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- [Voiceover] Okay, that's Even Worse.
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00:00:03,350 --> 00:00:05,161
We're gonna take just
about a ten minute break
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00:00:05,185 --> 00:00:06,495
and bring up Millions of Dead Cops
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00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:07,519
we're running late.
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00:00:07,687 --> 00:00:09,689
We're also gonna show the movie right now.
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00:00:09,923 --> 00:00:11,257
It's gonna be on the wall.
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If you're looking at the stage it'll be
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on the left on the wall.
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Stage left.
(laughter)
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Give it a second.
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00:00:26,673 --> 00:00:30,276
(hardcore music starting up)
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- [Lou] This is
where this shit started.
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On the inside of my first album there's
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a photograph of the wall
of death taken here
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in 1987 at the Superbowl.
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This is where it started.
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Ladies and gentlemen on the floor and in
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00:00:50,096 --> 00:00:51,798
the balcony, Craig side.
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Make some noise!
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00:00:53,833 --> 00:00:55,869
(cheering)
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When the music starts I
need you to go that way.
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Can you do it?
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Ladies and gentlemen on the floor,
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00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:08,648
and in the balcony on Pete's Side.
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Make some noise!
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00:01:10,784 --> 00:01:13,319
(cheering)
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When the music starts I
need you to go that way.
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00:01:16,556 --> 00:01:18,191
Can you do it?
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(cheering)
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(screaming)
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Craig side are you ready?
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(cheering)
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Pete side are you ready?
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00:01:28,635 --> 00:01:30,303
(cheering)
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Is everybody ready?
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Shhh, now nobody sue us
if you get hurt alright?
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- [voiceover] Counter
Attack, the show that tries
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00:01:53,426 --> 00:01:55,328
to expose the alternative point of view.
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00:01:55,562 --> 00:01:57,630
This week's topic, Alternative Music.
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With our special guest
promoter, Randy Now.
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00:02:00,867 --> 00:02:03,470
And now, here's your host, Tom Schweck.
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00:02:06,139 --> 00:02:07,841
- Hello and welcome to another edition
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00:02:08,074 --> 00:02:09,476
of Counter Attack.
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00:02:09,709 --> 00:02:11,087
Our special guest this week is promoter,
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00:02:11,111 --> 00:02:12,445
Mr. Randy Now.
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00:02:12,679 --> 00:02:14,047
Hi, Randy thanks for being here.
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- Tom, how are you tonight?
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- I'm alright.
- [Randy] Great.
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00:02:17,584 --> 00:02:19,161
- Randy, for the people that don't know,
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00:02:19,185 --> 00:02:20,696
could you explain exactly
what a promoter does?
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00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,690
- Okay, a promoter is the person who
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00:02:23,923 --> 00:02:25,992
will call the agency in
New York or Los Angeles
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that represents the band that you may want
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00:02:28,027 --> 00:02:30,630
that you know who's
coming over from England
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or wherever they're from.
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And you set up the show, you set up the
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00:02:34,234 --> 00:02:36,035
guarantee, you make your promise of what
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00:02:36,269 --> 00:02:38,838
you can pay the band,
and you see to it that
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00:02:39,072 --> 00:02:41,841
everything is fulfilled
that's per their contract.
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00:02:43,409 --> 00:02:45,289
You make sure that the
band has the right sound,
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00:02:45,445 --> 00:02:47,480
the right riders, right advertising,
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00:02:47,714 --> 00:02:49,749
and you just hope that you can get enough
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00:02:49,983 --> 00:02:52,018
people to pay the
admission to pay the band
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00:02:52,252 --> 00:02:54,354
and all the other expenses.
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00:02:54,587 --> 00:02:56,232
- Could you explain
like, the type of music
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00:02:56,256 --> 00:02:58,658
that you book at the shows you do?
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00:02:58,892 --> 00:03:00,894
- [Randy] Okay a lot of
people like to call the
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00:03:01,127 --> 00:03:03,163
music that I book "alternative music",
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00:03:03,396 --> 00:03:04,864
mostly 'cause it's only played
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00:03:05,098 --> 00:03:06,833
on college radio stations.
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00:03:07,066 --> 00:03:08,701
Bands that I book you won't hear on the
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00:03:08,935 --> 00:03:10,937
50,000 watt stations, the WMMR's or
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00:03:11,171 --> 00:03:14,507
the WPST's, it's alternative music.
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00:03:14,741 --> 00:03:17,443
It's also, we do hardcore, or reggae,
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00:03:17,677 --> 00:03:20,880
or new wave, all aspects
of the underground
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00:03:21,114 --> 00:03:24,684
movement is covered
with our booking policy.
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00:03:26,219 --> 00:03:27,730
- Why do you feel it's
("Furniture" by FUGAZI)
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00:03:27,754 --> 00:03:29,389
important to book this type of band?
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00:03:29,622 --> 00:03:31,624
- To rid ourselves of dinosaur rock
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00:03:31,858 --> 00:03:33,526
like Led Zeppelin.
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00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,296
A lot of people, you can't
believe how many people,
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00:03:36,529 --> 00:03:38,598
17-year-old kids that
still think Led Zeppelin
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rules and the first album came out and
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they were three years old.
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00:03:42,869 --> 00:03:44,349
Ya know, it's kinda like me listening
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00:03:44,537 --> 00:03:46,097
to 50's music and saying like you know,
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"Yeah, yeah, yeah that's the real music."
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00:03:49,342 --> 00:03:50,910
- Do you feel that promoting is
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00:03:51,144 --> 00:03:52,278
a good business to get into?
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00:03:52,512 --> 00:03:54,247
- Not at all, nope.
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00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,449
Not at all, not one bit.
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00:03:56,683 --> 00:03:58,318
I don't know why I do it.
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00:03:58,551 --> 00:04:00,620
🎜 Fugazi - 'Furniture' music plays 🎜
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00:04:00,853 --> 00:04:02,922
I must be insane.
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00:04:03,156 --> 00:04:07,260
🎜 Nobody can hear the missing 🎜
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00:04:07,493 --> 00:04:09,829
🎜 They just look at my
mouth and look in my mouth 🎜
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00:04:10,063 --> 00:04:13,800
🎜 and look in my mouth and say hey man 🎜
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🎜 I know where you're comin' from 🎜
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🎜 Yeah bullshit 🎜
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00:04:48,301 --> 00:04:49,936
- One thing's interesting about my world
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00:04:50,169 --> 00:04:52,205
is that with a lot of the venues,
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00:04:52,438 --> 00:04:54,507
because I was in the
band and we would load
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00:04:54,741 --> 00:04:57,210
in early, I actually never
went to the front door.
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00:04:58,511 --> 00:05:00,546
I never went through the
lobby if there was one.
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00:05:00,780 --> 00:05:02,460
I just don't know it, I only would know...
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00:05:02,615 --> 00:05:05,518
I know most venues by the backdoor.
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00:05:05,752 --> 00:05:07,396
Usually we'd get there at say, one o'clock
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00:05:07,420 --> 00:05:09,555
in the afternoon, front doors are locked.
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00:05:09,789 --> 00:05:12,191
So, my relationship with
most clubs has not...
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00:05:12,425 --> 00:05:14,394
I don't have any idea of, you know,
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00:05:14,627 --> 00:05:16,663
what their popcorn stand looks like
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00:05:16,896 --> 00:05:18,398
if they even have popcorn stand.
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00:05:18,631 --> 00:05:20,233
What I think about is just like,
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00:05:20,466 --> 00:05:22,201
the dressing room, and the stage area.
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00:05:22,435 --> 00:05:24,037
And as I remember, and I could be wrong,
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00:05:24,270 --> 00:05:26,070
I seem to think, was the
dressing floor was on
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00:05:26,272 --> 00:05:28,141
the second floor, was there a second floor
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00:05:28,374 --> 00:05:29,976
for the dressing room?
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00:05:30,209 --> 00:05:32,011
It was a really filthy club.
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00:05:32,245 --> 00:05:34,480
- One night we were
playing and the drummer,
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we go out to put the
drums in the car to leave
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00:05:37,050 --> 00:05:38,450
at like two o'clock in the morning,
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00:05:38,651 --> 00:05:40,687
and his car was stolen.
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00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:42,989
That was like, devastating
to me but that was
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00:05:43,222 --> 00:05:46,426
not uncommon in that environment,
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00:05:46,659 --> 00:05:48,194
and I know plenty of bands that got
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00:05:48,428 --> 00:05:51,264
their equipment stolen
out of that parking lot.
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00:05:51,497 --> 00:05:53,232
But you know, that was the environment.
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00:05:53,466 --> 00:05:54,600
That's what it...(laughs)
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00:05:54,834 --> 00:05:56,436
That's what it was.
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00:05:56,669 --> 00:05:58,705
In fact, we were real proactive that night
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00:05:58,938 --> 00:06:01,374
we all jumped in my
other guitar player's car
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00:06:01,607 --> 00:06:03,676
and we drove around
until we found the guy.
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00:06:03,910 --> 00:06:06,446
We actually saw him
driving up Calhoun Street
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00:06:06,679 --> 00:06:09,615
in my friend's Galaxy
that he had gotten stolen,
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00:06:09,849 --> 00:06:14,120
and he was some kind of
a druggie that had like,
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00:06:14,354 --> 00:06:16,723
hemorrhoids or piles or something.
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00:06:16,956 --> 00:06:20,793
He had all these diapers in the car.
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00:06:21,027 --> 00:06:23,029
He didn't really want that car back.
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00:06:23,262 --> 00:06:25,264
- So at one point there was probably maybe
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00:06:25,498 --> 00:06:27,467
400 people in the place, and I would say
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00:06:27,700 --> 00:06:32,238
at least 75 to 100 are
involved in this fight
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00:06:32,472 --> 00:06:35,375
where everyone is
basically throwing chairs.
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00:06:35,608 --> 00:06:37,610
And they had these little
plastic chairs that
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you would almost see in grade schools.
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Like, the little plastic chairs and chairs
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00:06:42,648 --> 00:06:43,816
were flying everywhere.
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The band is playing for
about 45 seconds still,
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while we're all running around grabbing
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00:06:49,455 --> 00:06:51,557
people and throwin' 'em out.
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00:06:53,426 --> 00:06:55,395
Then they just stopped and watched.
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So it was...
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00:06:57,029 --> 00:06:58,240
- [Director's voice] The band did?
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- The band did, yeah.
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00:07:00,032 --> 00:07:01,434
- I know who the fuck you are!
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You're the guy who fuckin' showed up
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eight hours late, and didn't fuckin' call
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'cause you were too busy doing coke
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00:07:07,140 --> 00:07:09,509
in New York last night
after your fuckin' show,
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and you're also the
fuckin' guy who's gonna get
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the fuck of my stage so that I can get the
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00:07:13,679 --> 00:07:16,149
opening band on, get all
your stupid fans in here,
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00:07:16,382 --> 00:07:17,850
and get this fuckin' show over with.
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00:07:18,618 --> 00:07:20,319
- What was the band, The Exploited
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we were talking about, the guy came out.
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00:07:23,055 --> 00:07:24,757
You know, they were maybe band two
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00:07:24,991 --> 00:07:27,026
out of five one night.
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Song starts, grabs his mic of the stand,
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sings the first verse,
"blah blah blah blah
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00:07:30,830 --> 00:07:31,974
"blah blah blah blah
blah", guitar interlude
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00:07:31,998 --> 00:07:33,699
he swings his mic around on the stand and
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smacks it in the I-beam, pulls it down
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it doesn't work.
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00:07:37,737 --> 00:07:39,772
Grabs this mic over here,
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00:07:40,006 --> 00:07:41,541
second verse.
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00:07:41,774 --> 00:07:43,342
Swings the mic into the I-beam,
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00:07:43,576 --> 00:07:45,211
that one doesn't work.
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00:07:45,445 --> 00:07:47,285
There's third mic over
here, he grabs that one.
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00:07:47,346 --> 00:07:49,348
Same thing, swings that in the I-beam
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that one breaks.
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00:07:51,417 --> 00:07:53,453
I have to run back to the office,
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"Hey Tut, I need to get some more mics
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00:07:55,888 --> 00:07:57,957
"I need to get under the stage to unlock
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00:07:58,191 --> 00:07:59,334
"the thing to get more mics out",
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00:07:59,358 --> 00:08:01,160
'cause we would set up for five bands
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00:08:01,394 --> 00:08:03,034
and you'd set up two guitars, bass, drum,
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00:08:03,262 --> 00:08:04,964
three vocals across the front,
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00:08:05,198 --> 00:08:06,732
maybe a drummer vocal, that's it lock
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00:08:06,966 --> 00:08:08,701
everything else up 'cause you don't know
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00:08:08,935 --> 00:08:10,375
what's going on backstage with bands
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00:08:10,536 --> 00:08:12,171
coming on and off.
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"Tut, I need to get more mics out,
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00:08:14,373 --> 00:08:15,575
"the band just broke."
194
00:08:15,808 --> 00:08:16,808
"Why what happened?"
195
00:08:16,876 --> 00:08:18,220
"The band just broke three vocal mics."
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00:08:18,244 --> 00:08:20,813
- Every time that we played City Gardens,
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00:08:21,247 --> 00:08:24,016
that was a time when my stage fright,
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00:08:24,250 --> 00:08:26,319
which I carried everywhere we went,
199
00:08:26,552 --> 00:08:28,588
was at it's most intense.
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00:08:28,821 --> 00:08:32,525
And I don't think there was a single time
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00:08:32,758 --> 00:08:35,695
that we played there
that I didn't throw up
202
00:08:35,928 --> 00:08:37,930
right before going on stage.
203
00:08:38,164 --> 00:08:40,199
Just out of sheer nervousness.
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00:08:41,868 --> 00:08:44,537
The funny thing is that,
the crowds there were
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00:08:44,770 --> 00:08:48,007
probably more into what we doing than
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00:08:48,241 --> 00:08:51,177
any place else we ever played.
207
00:08:51,410 --> 00:08:54,580
I think maybe it just came down to
208
00:08:54,814 --> 00:08:58,951
the people who came to City Gardens
209
00:08:59,185 --> 00:09:02,522
were people that you
really wanted to please,
210
00:09:02,755 --> 00:09:04,957
because they were so
211
00:09:06,592 --> 00:09:09,762
willing to take a chance on a band.
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00:09:09,996 --> 00:09:13,266
They just loved the idea that someone was
213
00:09:13,499 --> 00:09:15,935
gonna go up on that stage and try to
214
00:09:16,168 --> 00:09:18,204
give them a good time.
215
00:09:18,437 --> 00:09:22,174
("Old School" by The Bouncing Souls)
216
00:09:54,507 --> 00:09:56,809
- [Randy] How's everybody doing tonight?
217
00:09:57,043 --> 00:09:58,043
(cheering)
218
00:09:58,144 --> 00:10:00,646
(guitar strum)
(applause)
219
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:02,915
Now welcome to the Record Collector,
220
00:10:03,149 --> 00:10:05,284
and happy Fez Day.
221
00:10:05,518 --> 00:10:07,119
I need to say a couple things before
222
00:10:07,353 --> 00:10:09,088
we get rollin' here.
223
00:10:09,322 --> 00:10:11,757
Tomorrow night, Raymond the Amish Comic
224
00:10:11,991 --> 00:10:15,428
will be here in the house.
(applause and cheering)
225
00:10:15,661 --> 00:10:17,263
Listen to that applause for
226
00:10:17,496 --> 00:10:19,999
Raymond the Amish Comic.
227
00:10:20,232 --> 00:10:21,801
He's damn funny, let me tell ya.
228
00:10:22,034 --> 00:10:23,754
If you're not doin'
anything tomorrow night,
229
00:10:23,903 --> 00:10:26,372
he'll be delivering
his Good Friday sermon.
230
00:10:26,606 --> 00:10:28,708
Tomorrow night, Raymond the Amish Comic.
231
00:10:28,941 --> 00:10:31,510
No cameras, please, no cameras
232
00:10:31,744 --> 00:10:33,713
for Raymond the Amish Comic.
233
00:10:33,946 --> 00:10:35,615
Nobody gets that joke.
234
00:10:35,848 --> 00:10:37,516
I had an uncle who's passed now
235
00:10:37,750 --> 00:10:41,954
he said, back in like
'63, '64 we had the old
236
00:10:42,188 --> 00:10:45,625
RCA Victor 45 RPM player,
237
00:10:45,858 --> 00:10:47,460
you only played 45's you'd stack 'em.
238
00:10:47,693 --> 00:10:50,696
He says I'd have a stack
of 45's and I could
239
00:10:50,930 --> 00:10:52,632
just like, pick by the label.
240
00:10:52,865 --> 00:10:55,801
Maybe even at younger
than '63, to the age where
241
00:10:56,035 --> 00:10:58,537
I wasn't even old enough to read,
242
00:10:58,771 --> 00:11:01,240
and I was just pickin',
you know, this red label
243
00:11:01,474 --> 00:11:04,343
meant that it was you
know whatever, Johnny Cash
244
00:11:04,577 --> 00:11:07,546
or Buddy Holly, and I
would put 'em on this
245
00:11:07,780 --> 00:11:10,783
record player and play the records.
246
00:11:11,917 --> 00:11:13,853
We had a comedy record,
it was kind of like
247
00:11:14,086 --> 00:11:16,555
a real risque double entendre record,
248
00:11:16,789 --> 00:11:18,891
and they were called
"Cornbread and Biscuits".
249
00:11:19,125 --> 00:11:21,193
And my brother and I
would reenact this routine
250
00:11:21,427 --> 00:11:23,429
it was called The Great...
251
00:11:23,663 --> 00:11:25,765
What was it called?
252
00:11:25,998 --> 00:11:27,667
I forget what it was called.
253
00:11:27,900 --> 00:11:30,002
I have a copy of it, The Great Bartender
254
00:11:30,236 --> 00:11:31,871
or something, but the two guys speaking
255
00:11:32,104 --> 00:11:34,106
were Cornbread and Biscuits,
256
00:11:34,340 --> 00:11:36,509
and once again, we mimicked this whole...
257
00:11:36,742 --> 00:11:38,878
You know, back and forth in a bar of these
258
00:11:39,111 --> 00:11:41,614
two guys, never realizing
they were talking
259
00:11:41,847 --> 00:11:43,883
about sticking needles in their arms
260
00:11:44,116 --> 00:11:46,152
and smokin' pot.
261
00:11:48,421 --> 00:11:51,257
And I also remember probably in my
262
00:11:51,490 --> 00:11:54,794
early teens, sponsoring a bike race.
263
00:11:55,027 --> 00:11:57,096
Behind our house was
a blacktop and a park,
264
00:11:57,329 --> 00:11:59,799
and the blacktop had a
couple basketball courts.
265
00:12:00,032 --> 00:12:03,035
It was just a rim and none of the string
266
00:12:03,269 --> 00:12:05,771
was ever left, everybody
stole it all the time.
267
00:12:06,005 --> 00:12:08,874
But we would have bicycle
races this one summer,
268
00:12:09,108 --> 00:12:11,143
and we started just innocently, you know,
269
00:12:11,377 --> 00:12:13,913
have four or five kids
on their Schwinn Stingray
270
00:12:14,146 --> 00:12:15,715
bikes at that time.
271
00:12:15,948 --> 00:12:17,983
Kids on bikes would just
collide into each other
272
00:12:18,217 --> 00:12:20,319
and really wreck their
bikes and their spokes,
273
00:12:20,553 --> 00:12:22,722
and broken arms and broken necks.
274
00:12:22,955 --> 00:12:24,990
I can remember ambulances
coming down through
275
00:12:25,224 --> 00:12:27,326
our yard actually pickin'
up kids and takin'
276
00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:29,161
'em away and you know if we were to do
277
00:12:29,395 --> 00:12:30,996
that now we'd probably get arrested,
278
00:12:31,230 --> 00:12:33,332
and sewed, but I was
only about 12 years old.
279
00:12:33,566 --> 00:12:35,267
I guess that's probably one of my earliest
280
00:12:35,501 --> 00:12:38,003
promotion things other than
having cool-aid stands.
281
00:12:38,237 --> 00:12:40,673
This was probably around 1988.
282
00:12:40,906 --> 00:12:43,809
Course a lot of punk
bands started stealing
283
00:12:44,043 --> 00:12:46,512
the Converse Chuck Taylor logo,
284
00:12:46,746 --> 00:12:49,315
but I betcha I was the first to do that.
285
00:12:49,548 --> 00:12:52,151
This is the coolest one here.
286
00:12:52,384 --> 00:12:55,688
This is my company Other Side Productions,
287
00:12:55,921 --> 00:12:59,692
'84 to '88, and then on
the back of the shirt
288
00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:02,962
I had all the bands listed on here that
289
00:13:03,195 --> 00:13:05,397
played in '84 to '88.
290
00:13:06,432 --> 00:13:08,200
- [Tom] How I met Randy was
291
00:13:08,434 --> 00:13:09,869
quite by accident.
292
00:13:10,102 --> 00:13:12,605
A friend of mine from
school told me that there
293
00:13:12,838 --> 00:13:14,940
was this guy, DJ'ing at this club way out
294
00:13:15,174 --> 00:13:18,110
in New Egypt, New Jersey
which is completely
295
00:13:18,344 --> 00:13:21,280
rural and not a rock and roll destination
296
00:13:21,514 --> 00:13:23,215
by any stretch.
297
00:13:23,449 --> 00:13:25,451
Me and like, two other
friends we went out there
298
00:13:25,684 --> 00:13:27,953
probably for three months, I think it was
299
00:13:28,187 --> 00:13:29,789
Thursday nights that he was doin' it,
300
00:13:30,022 --> 00:13:32,024
and the bar was called The Central House.
301
00:13:32,258 --> 00:13:34,018
- And it was just like
blue collar, rednecks,
302
00:13:34,226 --> 00:13:36,796
the guys from the New Egypt Speedway would
303
00:13:37,029 --> 00:13:39,131
come out there and drink
their beers and stuff.
304
00:13:39,365 --> 00:13:41,033
And we're out there playing like,
305
00:13:41,267 --> 00:13:42,902
Ian Dury and the Blockheads,
306
00:13:43,135 --> 00:13:44,837
Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll,
307
00:13:45,070 --> 00:13:47,139
and Graham Parker, Nick
Lowe, Elvis Costello
308
00:13:47,373 --> 00:13:49,408
and maybe even throw in like a Dirty Water
309
00:13:49,642 --> 00:13:51,310
by the Standells.
310
00:13:51,544 --> 00:13:53,312
And they hated us.
311
00:13:55,881 --> 00:13:57,850
I had bought these
Klipsch speakers by then,
312
00:13:58,083 --> 00:14:00,553
these huge, monster, La Scala speakers.
313
00:14:00,786 --> 00:14:04,590
I was probably the greatest sounding DJ
314
00:14:04,824 --> 00:14:07,359
playing to them, the
shittiest music in the world,
315
00:14:07,593 --> 00:14:09,662
but to me it was the
greatest music in the world.
316
00:14:09,895 --> 00:14:11,564
- He also DJ'ed at other places,
317
00:14:11,797 --> 00:14:13,833
he would be a guest DJ at Emerald City.
318
00:14:14,066 --> 00:14:17,536
He DJ'ed for Alice Cooper.
319
00:14:17,770 --> 00:14:20,773
Emerald City was a
beautiful club, beautiful.
320
00:14:21,006 --> 00:14:23,175
It was the old Latin casino.
321
00:14:23,409 --> 00:14:27,513
(🎜 music plays 🎜)
322
00:14:27,746 --> 00:14:29,782
- [Tom] Not only was he playin' all this
323
00:14:30,015 --> 00:14:31,735
current stuff, but he
was also playin' a lot
324
00:14:31,851 --> 00:14:34,887
of British invasion, some
soul like Shirley Ellis.
325
00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:36,755
- [Trish] He'd be up there flippin'
326
00:14:36,989 --> 00:14:38,789
through 'em as fast as
possible, just thinkin'
327
00:14:38,924 --> 00:14:40,604
like, you know, I don't
know how he thought
328
00:14:40,826 --> 00:14:42,428
about it, but he'd be able to pick
329
00:14:42,661 --> 00:14:44,129
the right songs.
330
00:14:44,363 --> 00:14:45,974
- [Tom] All these different
records but it was,
331
00:14:45,998 --> 00:14:48,968
all makin' sense, like it all worked.
332
00:14:51,437 --> 00:14:53,272
- [Randy] There was a kid in Trenton named
333
00:14:53,505 --> 00:14:56,075
Tony Nini, he was like a disco DJ.
334
00:14:56,308 --> 00:14:57,810
Of course he played all the hits and
335
00:14:58,043 --> 00:15:00,079
he was popular, and he actually invited me
336
00:15:00,312 --> 00:15:02,381
to a dance on his turf or territory.
337
00:15:02,615 --> 00:15:04,415
I went in there and I,
once again I'm breakin'
338
00:15:04,550 --> 00:15:08,420
out my Plastic Bertrand,
Ca Plane Pour Moi,
339
00:15:08,654 --> 00:15:10,389
or The Stranglers.
340
00:15:10,623 --> 00:15:12,658
The Dead Kennedys at that time,
341
00:15:12,892 --> 00:15:14,572
and I got spit on I remember being spit on
342
00:15:14,727 --> 00:15:16,528
by some kid, "You suck [SPIT]".
343
00:15:18,130 --> 00:15:20,099
- He said, "Hey I got this new gig,
344
00:15:20,332 --> 00:15:22,101
"it's at this place in Trenton.
345
00:15:22,334 --> 00:15:23,936
"Do you wanna go?"
346
00:15:24,169 --> 00:15:26,472
- [Randy] I finally saw an ad for this
347
00:15:26,705 --> 00:15:29,942
bar in Trenton, and it
was called City Gardens,
348
00:15:30,175 --> 00:15:32,278
it was called King Tut's City Gardens,
349
00:15:32,511 --> 00:15:34,191
got the number called
them up, "Hey, how ya
350
00:15:34,380 --> 00:15:36,482
"doin', my name's Randy", and I was still
351
00:15:36,715 --> 00:15:38,435
Randy Ellis not Randy
Now yet at that point.
352
00:15:38,584 --> 00:15:40,344
And I said, "I'm a new
wave DJ", and he said,
353
00:15:40,486 --> 00:15:41,754
"A new what?"
354
00:15:41,987 --> 00:15:43,667
- And we went to this place, City Gardens,
355
00:15:43,889 --> 00:15:45,991
and I was never to
Trenton before and it was
356
00:15:46,225 --> 00:15:48,360
kind of a culture shock.
357
00:15:48,594 --> 00:15:50,195
- We had a blast even though it was on
358
00:15:50,429 --> 00:15:52,131
Calhoun Street in Trenton.
359
00:15:52,364 --> 00:15:53,975
It was an area I'd
probably never even been
360
00:15:53,999 --> 00:15:54,999
to before.
361
00:15:55,100 --> 00:15:56,669
- And that was the very first night
362
00:15:56,902 --> 00:15:58,537
of City Gardens.
363
00:15:58,771 --> 00:16:02,808
(🎜 House of Others -
"Memento Mori" plays 🎜)
364
00:16:04,877 --> 00:16:07,046
- [Johnny] It was very
modest in the beginning,
365
00:16:07,279 --> 00:16:09,348
there was just Randy, a handful of people.
366
00:16:09,581 --> 00:16:12,151
The venue City Gardens was this enormous
367
00:16:12,384 --> 00:16:15,321
commercial space, but they were only using
368
00:16:15,554 --> 00:16:17,690
a very small portion of it in the back.
369
00:16:17,923 --> 00:16:20,492
- [Randy] On top was a US One Motors neon,
370
00:16:20,726 --> 00:16:23,362
was still up there, but it was so old
371
00:16:23,595 --> 00:16:25,664
and hadn't been used for years it was just
372
00:16:25,898 --> 00:16:27,633
fallin' off, when the
wind blew pieces of it
373
00:16:27,866 --> 00:16:29,635
were fallin' off and they were fallin'
374
00:16:29,868 --> 00:16:31,748
right down where the doors
were right below you.
375
00:16:33,472 --> 00:16:35,641
- [Trish] City Gardens had two rooms.
376
00:16:35,874 --> 00:16:37,843
One at the back bar, and the front bar.
377
00:16:38,077 --> 00:16:40,346
In the beginning, the
front bar was not open
378
00:16:40,579 --> 00:16:43,148
it was just the back bar.
379
00:16:43,382 --> 00:16:45,150
- It's like this, this
big empty space here,
380
00:16:45,384 --> 00:16:46,719
there was just a big empty space,
381
00:16:46,952 --> 00:16:48,654
and the club was in the back.
382
00:16:48,887 --> 00:16:50,465
- [Randy] And when I started DJ'ing there
383
00:16:50,489 --> 00:16:52,100
on that Sunday, that
was probably pretty much
384
00:16:52,124 --> 00:16:53,884
when I said, "Hey you
know, I got a couple of
385
00:16:53,926 --> 00:16:55,446
"friends that are in bands. Let me see
386
00:16:55,561 --> 00:16:57,241
"if I can bring a couple
of bands in here",
387
00:16:57,429 --> 00:16:59,164
that did original music, not the whole
388
00:16:59,398 --> 00:17:01,700
cover thing.
389
00:17:02,534 --> 00:17:05,604
(cheering)
390
00:17:06,338 --> 00:17:07,840
Tonight we have two bands,
391
00:17:08,073 --> 00:17:10,376
we have Plainfield Slim & The Groundhogs,
392
00:17:10,609 --> 00:17:12,678
and we have from Germany,
393
00:17:12,911 --> 00:17:16,682
their first night performing in America
394
00:17:16,915 --> 00:17:19,018
right here at the Record Collector.
395
00:17:21,186 --> 00:17:23,689
Please welcome Space Rangers.
396
00:17:23,922 --> 00:17:26,625
From Germany.
(applause and cheering)
397
00:17:28,260 --> 00:17:31,330
(🎜 Space Rangers - 'Cold
Blooded' music plays 🎜)
398
00:17:44,309 --> 00:17:45,909
- [Jack & George] So, hi I'm Jack and...
399
00:17:46,011 --> 00:17:47,446
- I'm Gorgeous George Messina.
400
00:17:47,679 --> 00:17:48,914
- From The Shades.
401
00:17:49,148 --> 00:17:51,784
We started at City Gardens in 1979.
402
00:17:52,017 --> 00:17:55,220
We think we're the first
rock band to play there,
403
00:17:55,454 --> 00:17:59,558
and Randy brought us
over from a little club
404
00:17:59,792 --> 00:18:02,094
called "Brothers" in Mercerville
405
00:18:02,327 --> 00:18:05,998
where we were packin'
the house twice a week.
406
00:18:06,231 --> 00:18:07,711
- [Johnny] Brothers was this suburban
407
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,636
very safe, Top 40 Disco Room.
408
00:18:10,869 --> 00:18:13,472
And on the weekends they would have some
409
00:18:13,705 --> 00:18:15,474
national acts and they
would have all their
410
00:18:15,707 --> 00:18:17,443
A-List bands, and they gave all of us the
411
00:18:17,676 --> 00:18:19,578
off nights, they would give us
412
00:18:19,812 --> 00:18:21,447
Wednesdays, Thursdays.
413
00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:23,515
One of the bands I
worked with, The Shades,
414
00:18:23,749 --> 00:18:25,226
had a lot of original
material and they had
415
00:18:25,250 --> 00:18:28,253
bigger plans, they
wanted to open for people
416
00:18:28,487 --> 00:18:29,922
and they wanted to tour.
417
00:18:30,155 --> 00:18:32,458
Randy Ellis, Randy Now, was a drummer in
418
00:18:32,691 --> 00:18:35,027
a band called Rock
Slide, and he also played
419
00:18:35,260 --> 00:18:37,329
there, but he also was DJ'ing.
420
00:18:37,563 --> 00:18:39,932
- When we got started there were no clubs.
421
00:18:40,165 --> 00:18:41,805
There's was nothing, it was the beginning
422
00:18:41,867 --> 00:18:43,268
of that sort of new wave thing.
423
00:18:43,502 --> 00:18:45,304
And then after about a year or so,
424
00:18:45,537 --> 00:18:46,672
clubs started opening up.
425
00:18:46,905 --> 00:18:48,625
- Yeah at first we were
just playing private
426
00:18:48,674 --> 00:18:50,114
parties, trying to play something at
427
00:18:50,342 --> 00:18:51,810
- the university.
- Right.
428
00:18:52,044 --> 00:18:53,812
- [Johnny] And then he opened up this room
429
00:18:54,046 --> 00:18:56,048
in the city limits, in the city of Trenton
430
00:18:56,281 --> 00:18:57,761
on Calhoun Street, this placed called
431
00:18:57,950 --> 00:19:00,652
King Tut's City Gardens.
432
00:19:00,886 --> 00:19:02,321
- [Jack] And we jumped at it,
433
00:19:02,554 --> 00:19:04,434
I think Scott went there
first, our bass player.
434
00:19:04,523 --> 00:19:06,291
Took a look at the room, and it wasn't the
435
00:19:06,525 --> 00:19:08,527
room that it ended up being it was
436
00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:10,195
the room on a left.
437
00:19:10,429 --> 00:19:13,365
Smaller stage, and I
can't even remember if
438
00:19:13,599 --> 00:19:15,400
we brought our own sound system
439
00:19:15,634 --> 00:19:17,202
in, we probably
- I think we did.
440
00:19:17,436 --> 00:19:18,871
- brought our own sound system.
441
00:19:19,104 --> 00:19:20,584
- And somewhere in the midst of that,
442
00:19:20,806 --> 00:19:22,307
- Yeah.
- Clubs started opening
443
00:19:22,541 --> 00:19:24,381
in New Jersey and City
Gardens was one of them,
444
00:19:24,443 --> 00:19:26,121
and they were like,
"Oh man, this is great,
445
00:19:26,145 --> 00:19:28,025
there's actually something
right in our backyard
446
00:19:28,113 --> 00:19:29,515
and it's big and it's good
447
00:19:29,748 --> 00:19:31,426
- and all that sort of stuff.
- Because there was also the
448
00:19:31,450 --> 00:19:33,050
issue of the New Jersey scene was filled
449
00:19:33,118 --> 00:19:34,520
with clubs but they were all cover
450
00:19:34,753 --> 00:19:36,255
- band clubs.
- Right.
451
00:19:36,488 --> 00:19:37,923
- We had a sound company in Trenton
452
00:19:38,157 --> 00:19:39,558
Joe's Sound & Salami Company,
453
00:19:39,791 --> 00:19:41,527
City Gardens approached
us to help them with
454
00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:43,440
their sound, and we good at helping people
455
00:19:43,595 --> 00:19:45,115
get the most sound out of their dollar
456
00:19:45,264 --> 00:19:46,875
and not getting ripped
off really by showing
457
00:19:46,899 --> 00:19:48,934
people how to buy top notch pro gear
458
00:19:49,168 --> 00:19:50,502
on the used market and stuff.
459
00:19:50,736 --> 00:19:52,337
So they had a world class sound system
460
00:19:52,571 --> 00:19:54,673
that they basically
picked up at a bargain.
461
00:19:54,907 --> 00:19:56,942
So around '82 I went in there.
462
00:19:57,176 --> 00:19:59,278
My first show I think was Thompson Twins.
463
00:19:59,511 --> 00:20:01,880
Or The Members for USA Hotspots.
464
00:20:02,114 --> 00:20:03,882
- [Female Voice] Good evening, and welcome
465
00:20:04,116 --> 00:20:05,918
to USA Hot Spots.
466
00:20:06,151 --> 00:20:07,751
Tonight we take you to one of the larger
467
00:20:07,819 --> 00:20:09,221
clubs we've been to so far.
468
00:20:09,454 --> 00:20:11,523
City Garden in Trenton, New Jersey.
469
00:20:11,757 --> 00:20:13,434
Two four six eight -
🎜 N.Y. Citizens 'Rude Girls' - music plays 🎜
470
00:20:13,458 --> 00:20:16,461
- [Johnny] Once we started
going over to City Gardens
471
00:20:16,695 --> 00:20:18,764
and Randy you know, he
built it up with the DJ
472
00:20:18,997 --> 00:20:20,675
thing and then he started
booking his friends
473
00:20:20,699 --> 00:20:22,434
over there, it was different.
474
00:20:22,668 --> 00:20:25,037
Calhoun street, for those who don't know,
475
00:20:25,270 --> 00:20:27,573
Calhoun Street, Trenton was an incredibly
476
00:20:27,806 --> 00:20:31,710
dangerous place, not unlike
CBGB's in the Bowery.
477
00:20:31,944 --> 00:20:34,079
It was not some place that you went out
478
00:20:34,546 --> 00:20:36,048
of your way to go to.
479
00:20:36,281 --> 00:20:37,749
- If you've never been to the club,
480
00:20:37,983 --> 00:20:39,718
going there your first time...
481
00:20:39,952 --> 00:20:41,119
You get lost.
482
00:20:41,353 --> 00:20:42,955
- [Milo] Gah, I
just remember it being
483
00:20:43,188 --> 00:20:45,290
hard to get in Trenton too. (laughs)
484
00:20:45,524 --> 00:20:47,135
I don't know if was they way the turnpike
485
00:20:47,159 --> 00:20:48,469
was laid out then or anything like that,
486
00:20:48,493 --> 00:20:50,173
but we'd get lost a few times just getting
487
00:20:50,295 --> 00:20:51,730
in to Trenton.
488
00:20:51,964 --> 00:20:53,732
- [Karl] It was
probably about an hour
489
00:20:53,966 --> 00:20:55,526
from our house once we actually learned
490
00:20:55,667 --> 00:20:57,102
how to get there the right way.
491
00:20:57,336 --> 00:20:58,980
- It's confusing, it's
a hard place to find
492
00:20:59,004 --> 00:21:00,505
if you don't know where you're going.
493
00:21:00,739 --> 00:21:02,150
- [Harley] Every
gig outside of New York
494
00:21:02,174 --> 00:21:03,851
was usually just a van
ride in to some ghetto,
495
00:21:03,875 --> 00:21:05,677
somewhere, because hardcore
shows for the
496
00:21:05,911 --> 00:21:08,647
most part were always
in shitty neighborhoods
497
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:10,949
or run down areas, so it was never like...
498
00:21:11,183 --> 00:21:14,186
You were never pulling
up to some nice you know,
499
00:21:14,419 --> 00:21:16,955
up to a good neighborhood and a nice club
500
00:21:17,189 --> 00:21:19,591
with a good PA and nice monitors (laughs),
501
00:21:19,825 --> 00:21:23,195
and friendly fuckin', "Hey, alright!"
502
00:21:23,428 --> 00:21:24,930
- [Rob] It was really nothing that
503
00:21:25,163 --> 00:21:26,883
showed you what it was
except for the little
504
00:21:26,999 --> 00:21:29,368
tag with City Gardens
up on the upper corner
505
00:21:29,601 --> 00:21:31,336
of the building.
506
00:21:31,570 --> 00:21:33,170
Wasn't any big murals or any giant music
507
00:21:33,338 --> 00:21:34,898
notes or anything like, "Hey, check out
508
00:21:35,073 --> 00:21:36,842
"our cool fancy club."
509
00:21:37,075 --> 00:21:38,844
It was just a big, giant, crazy warehouse
510
00:21:39,077 --> 00:21:41,513
surrounded by a soccer field and woods.
511
00:21:41,747 --> 00:21:43,547
- [Jon Stewart] You know,
it was surrounded by
512
00:21:43,749 --> 00:21:45,217
like, half a chain link fence.
513
00:21:45,450 --> 00:21:47,519
There was like, there'd be
two panels, then there'd
514
00:21:47,753 --> 00:21:49,621
be like a break, be a couple more panels
515
00:21:49,855 --> 00:21:51,957
and a break, and a
hole, and another panel.
516
00:21:52,190 --> 00:21:55,193
I think if you went there and you drank
517
00:21:55,427 --> 00:21:57,562
and danced long enough, they just assumed
518
00:21:57,796 --> 00:21:59,231
you worked there.
519
00:21:59,464 --> 00:22:01,242
- The club had the
nickname of Shitty Gardens,
520
00:22:01,266 --> 00:22:03,135
but to us, it wasn't a club.
521
00:22:03,368 --> 00:22:04,903
That was the area around it.
522
00:22:05,137 --> 00:22:06,972
I don't know how it
really was, but we were
523
00:22:07,205 --> 00:22:09,525
driving through there,
"Man this place is such a shithole".
524
00:22:09,641 --> 00:22:10,842
(laughter)
525
00:22:11,076 --> 00:22:12,644
- [Rob] And once you went inside it had
526
00:22:12,878 --> 00:22:14,346
the checkerboard floor, a big bar,
527
00:22:14,579 --> 00:22:16,099
and these weird little statues hanging
528
00:22:16,315 --> 00:22:17,995
from the walls and stuff, and you're like,
529
00:22:18,216 --> 00:22:19,718
"Okay. I'm in a club."
530
00:22:19,951 --> 00:22:21,596
- In some ways it was
kind of a unique culture
531
00:22:21,620 --> 00:22:23,422
experience, New Jersey
compared to New York
532
00:22:23,655 --> 00:22:26,091
and The Big Apple and whatnot.
533
00:22:26,325 --> 00:22:28,727
It was a big ole warehouse.
534
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:31,663
Big kind of barn painted black inside.
535
00:22:31,897 --> 00:22:35,267
Punk, and rock 'n' roller proof.
536
00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:37,602
- [Ian] I kind remember like,
537
00:22:37,836 --> 00:22:40,605
the stage being covered
with pieces of tape.
538
00:22:40,839 --> 00:22:42,908
It never got cleaned.
539
00:22:43,141 --> 00:22:46,545
Probably was a bathroom
in the backstage area,
540
00:22:46,778 --> 00:22:49,715
which I think deeply,
541
00:22:49,948 --> 00:22:51,750
actually I know was deeply appreciated.
542
00:22:51,983 --> 00:22:54,119
There's nothing worse than having to go
543
00:22:54,353 --> 00:22:57,055
to the bathroom in the general bathroom.
544
00:22:57,289 --> 00:22:59,424
Especially if you have to take a shit
545
00:22:59,658 --> 00:23:01,302
and people are talkin'
to you and they're like,
546
00:23:01,326 --> 00:23:03,006
"Oh my God, dude I love your band." Great.
547
00:23:03,095 --> 00:23:04,596
(laughter)
548
00:23:04,830 --> 00:23:06,750
- [Henry] And then if
you walked off stage left,
549
00:23:06,865 --> 00:23:08,967
along the venue there
was another dressing room
550
00:23:09,201 --> 00:23:13,605
up a flight of stairs, way down the venue.
551
00:23:13,839 --> 00:23:16,074
That's the one I was always in.
552
00:23:16,308 --> 00:23:17,943
- I'm short and those,
553
00:23:18,176 --> 00:23:20,045
couple of the urinals
when you first stepped
554
00:23:20,278 --> 00:23:22,047
in were kinda high up and it was like,
555
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:27,185
I don't want my junk to touch that urinal,
556
00:23:28,153 --> 00:23:30,622
so you kinda had to arc it,
557
00:23:30,856 --> 00:23:33,058
and stand back, and it was just not
558
00:23:33,291 --> 00:23:35,427
good for me at all, that bathroom.
559
00:23:35,660 --> 00:23:38,764
It was disgusting any way,
but it was really bad.
560
00:23:38,997 --> 00:23:42,000
- I'd never seen so many Trans Ams.
561
00:23:42,234 --> 00:23:44,002
- The shape it was in was like the shape
562
00:23:44,236 --> 00:23:45,337
that would survive.
563
00:23:45,704 --> 00:23:48,473
- The first time I
actually went to the club
564
00:23:48,707 --> 00:23:50,609
I was in high school, and it was only
565
00:23:50,842 --> 00:23:53,145
the back room, the front
room wasn't open at all.
566
00:23:53,378 --> 00:23:56,181
There was a band called Bricks Mortar
567
00:23:56,415 --> 00:23:57,616
playing there I think.
568
00:23:57,849 --> 00:23:59,918
And then I guess I came
back in high school
569
00:24:00,152 --> 00:24:01,953
when they had moved the stage to
570
00:24:02,187 --> 00:24:04,656
the front, sorta the building, it was like
571
00:24:04,890 --> 00:24:07,025
long ways facing across the room.
572
00:24:07,259 --> 00:24:09,161
And that was 999.
573
00:24:09,394 --> 00:24:11,263
- I brought in 999 from England.
574
00:24:11,496 --> 00:24:13,598
What happened was, they
were supposed to play
575
00:24:13,832 --> 00:24:16,034
a club in Passaic called Hitsville,
576
00:24:16,268 --> 00:24:18,603
which was doin' 999, they were doin'
577
00:24:18,837 --> 00:24:21,206
Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Squeeze,
578
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,608
and probably even Elvis
Costello very early
579
00:24:23,842 --> 00:24:26,478
like '79 or so.
580
00:24:26,711 --> 00:24:29,448
And they closed down,
so there was 999 sittin'
581
00:24:29,681 --> 00:24:31,516
lookin' for a gig somewhere.
582
00:24:31,750 --> 00:24:33,652
So I found out who to call.
583
00:24:33,885 --> 00:24:36,321
It was an agency called
Frontier Booking, FBI,
584
00:24:36,555 --> 00:24:38,723
and was run by Ian Copeland.
585
00:24:38,957 --> 00:24:40,859
- That was Randy's big achievement that he
586
00:24:41,092 --> 00:24:43,328
booked this band, and it was packed.
587
00:24:45,230 --> 00:24:47,732
- [Randy] We probably paid $2,000 for 999,
588
00:24:47,966 --> 00:24:50,135
we probably paid too
much but we didn't know
589
00:24:50,368 --> 00:24:52,304
a thing, we didn't know
how much, who was what.
590
00:24:52,537 --> 00:24:55,006
They said, "We need
$2,000", and we said, "OK."
591
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,143
And 999 played to probably 600 people,
592
00:24:58,376 --> 00:25:00,212
it was probably a $5 door.
593
00:25:00,445 --> 00:25:02,247
It was 18 years old to drink back then,
594
00:25:02,481 --> 00:25:04,382
and believe me that mean that you were
595
00:25:04,616 --> 00:25:06,084
15 in there drinking.
596
00:25:06,318 --> 00:25:08,620
Ya know, it just didn't matter back then.
597
00:25:11,223 --> 00:25:13,191
- [Tom] Probably five to 600 people,
598
00:25:13,425 --> 00:25:14,985
and that's when it was like, "Oh man we
599
00:25:15,126 --> 00:25:16,806
"can really do this.
We can really actually
600
00:25:16,928 --> 00:25:19,664
"pull this off."
601
00:25:22,501 --> 00:25:24,769
- [George] We always had this feeling,
602
00:25:25,003 --> 00:25:26,905
I liken it to The Little Rascals, our gang
603
00:25:27,138 --> 00:25:28,707
putting on the show with the...
604
00:25:28,940 --> 00:25:30,509
He had this vision of what he wanted
605
00:25:30,742 --> 00:25:31,943
and how the show should run,
606
00:25:32,177 --> 00:25:33,745
and he emceed it, and ran it well.
607
00:25:33,979 --> 00:25:36,059
🎜 Kevin Seconds - 'City
Gardens Bound' music plays 🎜
608
00:25:41,353 --> 00:25:42,888
🎜 Pittsburgh and Delaware 🎜
609
00:25:43,121 --> 00:25:45,624
- [Randy] After the success of 999 through
610
00:25:45,857 --> 00:25:48,226
Ian Copeland, he gave me Wall of Voodoo,
611
00:25:48,460 --> 00:25:51,463
and Joan Jett, and REM was another one.
612
00:25:52,964 --> 00:25:54,966
I remember paying REM $500,
613
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,103
and I remember the contract rider was
614
00:25:58,336 --> 00:26:01,139
a 6-pack of beer, and four towels.
615
00:26:01,373 --> 00:26:03,241
- [Jack] To me, City Gardens was the
616
00:26:03,475 --> 00:26:06,444
immediate vanguard of
what began in the 80's.
617
00:26:06,678 --> 00:26:09,247
Things we just getting going.
618
00:26:09,481 --> 00:26:11,283
The thing about New York is they had
619
00:26:11,516 --> 00:26:12,751
a history already.
620
00:26:12,984 --> 00:26:14,586
They had the Velvet Underground
621
00:26:14,819 --> 00:26:16,388
obviously in the 60's.
622
00:26:16,621 --> 00:26:18,032
The Stooges, and the MC5
came to New York often
623
00:26:18,056 --> 00:26:19,791
and played at Max's Kansas City
624
00:26:20,025 --> 00:26:21,593
and some of the other venues,
625
00:26:21,826 --> 00:26:23,562
and had done famous things here like
626
00:26:23,795 --> 00:26:25,297
when Iggy Pop tore up his chest at
627
00:26:25,530 --> 00:26:27,399
Max's Kansas City I think in 1973.
628
00:26:27,632 --> 00:26:29,501
The New York Dolls.
629
00:26:29,734 --> 00:26:31,636
They were extremely popular throughout
630
00:26:31,870 --> 00:26:33,772
the mid 70's.
631
00:26:34,005 --> 00:26:35,574
So by the time the CBGB scene began
632
00:26:35,807 --> 00:26:38,677
circa 1974, it wasn't completely
633
00:26:38,910 --> 00:26:40,779
out of the blue.
634
00:26:41,012 --> 00:26:42,581
All it needed was a regular venue
635
00:26:42,814 --> 00:26:44,334
and the right guy running it who could
636
00:26:44,549 --> 00:26:46,785
tolerate all kinds of weirdness happening.
637
00:26:47,018 --> 00:26:49,588
And once you had Patty Smith and
638
00:26:49,821 --> 00:26:51,356
The Talking Heads, and The Ramones,
639
00:26:51,590 --> 00:26:54,459
and Richard Hell and all those people.
640
00:26:54,693 --> 00:26:55,961
Television.
641
00:26:56,194 --> 00:26:58,096
It became like this
great dumping ground for
642
00:26:58,330 --> 00:27:00,532
people from everywhere to come to New York
643
00:27:00,765 --> 00:27:02,334
and become part of that 'cause that's
644
00:27:02,567 --> 00:27:04,169
the scene they were looking for.
645
00:27:04,402 --> 00:27:06,162
For us to come from
places like Cleveland and
646
00:27:06,204 --> 00:27:07,806
play there was just how we ended up with
647
00:27:08,039 --> 00:27:10,542
The Dead Boys moving to New York.
648
00:27:10,775 --> 00:27:12,677
By the time you get to the 80's now there
649
00:27:12,911 --> 00:27:15,513
are scenes pretty much in about 20 cities.
650
00:27:15,747 --> 00:27:17,616
This little touring scene that starts up
651
00:27:17,849 --> 00:27:20,051
becomes an actual way for
independent rock bands
652
00:27:20,285 --> 00:27:22,554
to make a very small go of it.
653
00:27:23,488 --> 00:27:25,123
- What do you feel is the high point
654
00:27:25,357 --> 00:27:27,892
of your career as a promoter?
655
00:27:28,126 --> 00:27:29,728
- After this interview with you, Tom,
656
00:27:29,961 --> 00:27:31,529
well there's a lot of things.
657
00:27:31,763 --> 00:27:34,299
A lot of bands I really
take pride in that I booked.
658
00:27:34,532 --> 00:27:36,468
The Thompson Twins first show in America,
659
00:27:36,701 --> 00:27:38,637
Flock of Seagulls, even
stuff like Billy Idol,
660
00:27:38,870 --> 00:27:40,705
Dead Kennedys, I'm the only person to have
661
00:27:40,939 --> 00:27:43,241
booked them seven times
in the last six years
662
00:27:43,475 --> 00:27:46,077
every year and not get
closed down by the police
663
00:27:46,311 --> 00:27:48,213
doing a Dead Kennedys show.
664
00:27:48,446 --> 00:27:49,981
Lot of bands, lot of things.
665
00:27:50,215 --> 00:27:53,752
Mostly I guess the British
bands, The Public Images,
666
00:27:53,985 --> 00:27:55,587
The Thompson Twins, the Billy Idols,
667
00:27:55,820 --> 00:27:57,722
the Duran Durans even, booked them
668
00:27:57,956 --> 00:28:00,225
and nobody wanted 'em.
669
00:28:00,458 --> 00:28:03,328
- [Jello] People who take the underground,
670
00:28:03,561 --> 00:28:05,597
and punk, and Indie rock scenes for
671
00:28:05,830 --> 00:28:08,433
granted today sometimes have no idea
672
00:28:08,667 --> 00:28:11,269
what it took to build those scenes.
673
00:28:11,503 --> 00:28:13,738
When punk started it was a very
674
00:28:13,972 --> 00:28:16,241
visceral reaction against the sheer
675
00:28:16,474 --> 00:28:19,444
stupidity of the 70's, you know.
676
00:28:19,678 --> 00:28:22,914
We didn't want adult
rock, soft rock, Eagles,
677
00:28:23,148 --> 00:28:26,751
Hotel California, let alone disco.
678
00:28:26,985 --> 00:28:29,554
And punk brought back the
spirit of rock and roll
679
00:28:29,788 --> 00:28:32,023
in a way that was a
really good way to shock
680
00:28:32,257 --> 00:28:34,526
people we wanted to make uncomfortable.
681
00:28:34,759 --> 00:28:36,628
- The farther the top 40 bands moved in
682
00:28:36,861 --> 00:28:39,197
that kind of a dance
direction and everything
683
00:28:39,431 --> 00:28:41,700
getting thinner, and losing any kind of a
684
00:28:41,933 --> 00:28:43,768
root of rock and roll, the farther we
685
00:28:44,002 --> 00:28:46,037
moved in the other direction.
686
00:28:48,206 --> 00:28:50,308
- [Randy] So this is downtown Cranberry.
687
00:28:50,542 --> 00:28:53,144
This used to be like
maybe three businesses
688
00:28:53,378 --> 00:28:55,914
and an old deli up the street there.
689
00:28:56,147 --> 00:28:58,650
But now there's a pizza place,
690
00:29:00,318 --> 00:29:03,388
the other's a shoe repair.
691
00:29:05,657 --> 00:29:08,326
This is actually a little weepy here
692
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:10,495
because I worked here.
693
00:29:10,729 --> 00:29:13,732
I guess about ten years, nine, ten years.
694
00:29:13,965 --> 00:29:17,869
(🎜 Luscious Jackson -
"Did you forget me?" music plays 🎜)
695
00:29:19,504 --> 00:29:22,474
All those years of bands and DJ'ing
696
00:29:22,707 --> 00:29:25,643
in clubs 'til two in the morning,
697
00:29:25,877 --> 00:29:27,378
I was a mailman.
698
00:29:31,783 --> 00:29:33,318
- [Amy] It did
shock me that Randy was
699
00:29:33,551 --> 00:29:35,787
a mailman because I thought, "Well where
700
00:29:36,020 --> 00:29:37,622
"does he have the time. I thought he was
701
00:29:37,856 --> 00:29:39,157
"at City Gardens all the time.
702
00:29:39,390 --> 00:29:41,025
"How is he delivering mail and doing
703
00:29:41,259 --> 00:29:42,594
"this at the same time?"
704
00:29:42,827 --> 00:29:44,547
And I was shocked that
he didn't make enough
705
00:29:44,763 --> 00:29:46,865
money to live on doing
what he did at City Gardens
706
00:29:47,098 --> 00:29:49,100
that he had to also
have a regular day job.
707
00:29:49,334 --> 00:29:52,971
I remember kind of
being really sad for him
708
00:29:53,204 --> 00:29:57,108
that that wasn't, that
he was doing the coolest
709
00:29:57,342 --> 00:29:59,878
job in the world and
still it wasn't enough to
710
00:30:00,111 --> 00:30:03,047
sustain him, he had to have a real job.
711
00:30:03,281 --> 00:30:05,350
- So he was like the living embodiment of
712
00:30:05,583 --> 00:30:08,219
Bukowski, who needed a day job, but what
713
00:30:08,453 --> 00:30:11,156
he really lived for was his art.
714
00:30:13,825 --> 00:30:15,493
- [Randy] It's funny, if I'd never quit
715
00:30:15,727 --> 00:30:17,447
the Post Office I could
probably be retiring
716
00:30:17,562 --> 00:30:19,464
now with what, 30 years in?
717
00:30:19,697 --> 00:30:22,000
I'd probably be happy in that regard,
718
00:30:22,233 --> 00:30:23,802
like, "Oh I have a pension".
719
00:30:24,035 --> 00:30:26,371
But I never woulda been able to have kept
720
00:30:26,604 --> 00:30:28,206
doin' what I was doin'.
721
00:30:28,439 --> 00:30:31,042
I did leave the Post Office.
722
00:30:31,276 --> 00:30:34,179
And actually I'll tell
you the story right here.
723
00:30:34,412 --> 00:30:36,681
I was just down the street and it was a
724
00:30:36,915 --> 00:30:39,884
snowy February day and
I just had a successful
725
00:30:40,118 --> 00:30:42,720
show with, I seem to think
726
00:30:42,954 --> 00:30:44,823
it was a Dead Kennedys show,
727
00:30:45,056 --> 00:30:46,991
and it was Monday morning, I was walking
728
00:30:47,225 --> 00:30:49,494
in the snow and it was bitter cold,
729
00:30:49,727 --> 00:30:51,396
five, six degrees.
730
00:30:51,629 --> 00:30:53,665
And it was so cold, and was so tired
731
00:30:53,898 --> 00:30:56,234
'cause I had walked about, who knows,
732
00:30:56,467 --> 00:30:59,337
three, four, five miles
with mail on my back.
733
00:30:59,571 --> 00:31:01,206
And it was so windy and it was snow,
734
00:31:01,439 --> 00:31:03,341
but I was just like, "Why am I doing this?
735
00:31:03,575 --> 00:31:06,945
"Why am I getting up at six or 6:15
736
00:31:07,178 --> 00:31:09,514
"and be here at 6:30,
seven in the morning?"
737
00:31:09,747 --> 00:31:12,417
I was just probably out
'til one, two, three
738
00:31:12,650 --> 00:31:14,953
in the morning, I just
had a successful show.
739
00:31:15,186 --> 00:31:17,555
I was making enough
money there where I could
740
00:31:17,789 --> 00:31:19,724
live off that money, and I was like,
741
00:31:19,958 --> 00:31:21,259
"Why am I doing this?"
742
00:31:21,492 --> 00:31:23,795
All my friends are like,
in the music business
743
00:31:24,028 --> 00:31:26,397
are home, you know, Jello Biafra
744
00:31:26,631 --> 00:31:28,933
and the Dead Kennedys just left town
745
00:31:29,167 --> 00:31:31,047
they went to New York or
Philly or DC, wherever.
746
00:31:31,102 --> 00:31:33,404
Why am I getting up and doing this?
747
00:31:33,638 --> 00:31:35,607
I just said that's it.
748
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:37,775
And I thought about it for
749
00:31:38,009 --> 00:31:39,611
probably not even more than a few days
750
00:31:39,844 --> 00:31:41,713
and I betcha that Monday I probably
751
00:31:41,946 --> 00:31:44,215
said on Friday or Saturday
to my Postmaster here,
752
00:31:44,449 --> 00:31:47,285
"I'm resigning in two weeks, I'm gonna
753
00:31:47,518 --> 00:31:50,255
"pursue the club."
754
00:31:53,458 --> 00:31:56,895
Funny thing, that's when
I had the Motorhead show,
755
00:31:58,296 --> 00:32:00,765
and Motorhead canceled.
756
00:32:01,799 --> 00:32:04,135
- So we're just hangin'
out in line drinkin' beers,
757
00:32:04,369 --> 00:32:08,439
and Randy gets on top of this car hood
758
00:32:08,673 --> 00:32:10,975
with a little portable PA, and I had my
759
00:32:11,209 --> 00:32:15,179
tape recorder, and I used
to tape shows back then,
760
00:32:15,413 --> 00:32:17,749
I used to trade tapes all over the world.
761
00:32:17,982 --> 00:32:19,622
And I told my friend Brian I said, "What,
762
00:32:19,817 --> 00:32:21,452
"I'll turn on my recorder. See what he's
763
00:32:21,686 --> 00:32:23,655
"probably gonna announce
some upcoming shows."
764
00:32:23,888 --> 00:32:25,790
- [Randy] Okay.
(people talking)
765
00:32:26,024 --> 00:32:28,326
Please, can you listen for a second?
766
00:32:28,559 --> 00:32:31,963
Motorhead has decided not to play.
767
00:32:32,196 --> 00:32:34,499
(audience fussing and booing)
768
00:32:34,732 --> 00:32:37,502
- We're sorry...
- [Male Voice] Holy shit.
769
00:32:37,735 --> 00:32:39,771
- [Randy] We've done everything for 'em.
770
00:32:40,004 --> 00:32:41,606
They've decided not to play.
771
00:32:41,839 --> 00:32:43,441
- [Male Voice] Fuckin' ripoff!
772
00:32:43,675 --> 00:32:46,010
(booing)
773
00:32:46,244 --> 00:32:49,213
- Oh my God, I just quit a career in the
774
00:32:49,447 --> 00:32:53,952
Post Office to do this punk rock music DJ
775
00:32:54,185 --> 00:32:57,822
bullshit, and the first
show I do is Motorhead
776
00:32:58,056 --> 00:32:59,891
and they cancel on me.
777
00:33:00,124 --> 00:33:01,960
And I can remember saying at the show,
778
00:33:02,193 --> 00:33:03,828
"But don't worry, next week (mumbles)
779
00:33:04,062 --> 00:33:05,702
"is gonna be here", and everybody's like,
780
00:33:05,897 --> 00:33:07,632
"You suck", and "Fuck you".
781
00:33:07,865 --> 00:33:09,200
Aw man in my head I'm just like,
782
00:33:09,434 --> 00:33:10,702
what did I do?
783
00:33:10,935 --> 00:33:12,570
I just lost a career, my benefits,
784
00:33:12,804 --> 00:33:15,139
my retirement.
785
00:33:15,373 --> 00:33:18,943
It was pretty scary to do that.
786
00:33:19,978 --> 00:33:22,647
- The mailman, the other
job his nine to five
787
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:26,985
wasn't ever who I thought of him as.
788
00:33:28,486 --> 00:33:29,921
- A mailman?
789
00:33:30,154 --> 00:33:31,954
But then he was still
bookin' all these shows.
790
00:33:32,090 --> 00:33:33,391
You know, I'm a nice guy.
791
00:33:33,624 --> 00:33:35,264
Like, doin' business with me is generally
792
00:33:35,426 --> 00:33:36,937
pretty pleasant, I can't imagine what he
793
00:33:36,961 --> 00:33:38,596
was up against with some of the people
794
00:33:38,830 --> 00:33:40,498
because there are a lot of fuckers
795
00:33:40,732 --> 00:33:42,367
on the road, man.
796
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:44,445
There are a lot of people
who are not cool at all.
797
00:33:44,469 --> 00:33:46,070
A lot of band management people are just
798
00:33:46,304 --> 00:33:47,905
not nice at all.
799
00:33:48,139 --> 00:33:50,208
- [Al Jourgensen] It's
funny, like, we have a
800
00:33:50,441 --> 00:33:52,443
nickname for Randy, we used to call him
801
00:33:52,677 --> 00:33:54,345
"Goofy Grape".
802
00:33:54,579 --> 00:33:56,614
Because he had this like,
803
00:33:56,848 --> 00:33:58,549
big ole smile on his face while the owner
804
00:33:58,783 --> 00:34:00,785
was always yelling at him,
805
00:34:01,019 --> 00:34:03,421
and Randy was having to deal with like,
806
00:34:03,654 --> 00:34:06,024
so many egos.
807
00:34:06,257 --> 00:34:08,693
That sort of roster
like, just one week that
808
00:34:08,926 --> 00:34:10,862
you printed Circle Jerks, Black Flag,
809
00:34:11,095 --> 00:34:13,097
and all that, I can't even imagine.
810
00:34:13,331 --> 00:34:15,833
(laughs) He was in over his head.
811
00:34:17,969 --> 00:34:21,239
(🎜 Bigger Thomas -
"Super Moon" music plays 🎜)
812
00:34:37,889 --> 00:34:40,725
- Hey everybody, 91.3 FM WTSR,
813
00:34:40,958 --> 00:34:42,293
Trenton, New Jersey.
814
00:34:42,527 --> 00:34:44,829
Randy Now's Capitol Garage Radio Program.
815
00:34:45,063 --> 00:34:48,132
Oh, yeah, ah!
816
00:34:48,366 --> 00:34:50,068
- [Mickey] I moved up to New Hope,
817
00:34:50,301 --> 00:34:52,403
Pennsylvania from Yardley, Pennsylvania
818
00:34:52,637 --> 00:34:55,673
in, I wanna say 1982 or '80...
819
00:34:55,907 --> 00:34:59,243
It was about '82, '83.
820
00:34:59,477 --> 00:35:01,179
It also coincided with the same period
821
00:35:01,412 --> 00:35:03,414
I was really getting into music.
822
00:35:03,648 --> 00:35:05,048
I was getting into weird music too,
823
00:35:05,183 --> 00:35:06,727
I started with my
parents' record collection
824
00:35:06,751 --> 00:35:08,119
like most people.
825
00:35:08,352 --> 00:35:10,354
I met Scott Lowe, was
one of the first guys
826
00:35:10,588 --> 00:35:12,523
I met in like, sixth grade.
827
00:35:12,757 --> 00:35:15,126
And he had like,
828
00:35:15,359 --> 00:35:17,962
The Never Mind the Bollocks
Sex Pistols record,
829
00:35:18,196 --> 00:35:19,831
and I had some Devo records,
830
00:35:20,064 --> 00:35:21,699
and we were both into The Beatles.
831
00:35:21,933 --> 00:35:23,968
- I've known Mickey since
elementary school and,
832
00:35:24,202 --> 00:35:28,139
we got into a lot of
the same music together.
833
00:35:28,372 --> 00:35:30,308
A lot of the same kind
of underground music
834
00:35:30,541 --> 00:35:32,176
of the day.
835
00:35:32,410 --> 00:35:34,045
Everything from Adam and the Ants,
836
00:35:34,278 --> 00:35:35,980
to the Dead Kennedys.
837
00:35:36,214 --> 00:35:38,049
- [Mickey] Which wasn't
normal sixth graders
838
00:35:38,282 --> 00:35:39,860
and seventh graders, most kids were into
839
00:35:39,884 --> 00:35:41,519
like, BMX bikes and stuff like that.
840
00:35:41,752 --> 00:35:43,187
Then started
841
00:35:43,387 --> 00:35:45,523
listening to the radio.
842
00:35:45,756 --> 00:35:47,596
- [Radio Announcer] And
now for more of today's
843
00:35:47,758 --> 00:35:49,694
top hits, it's Randy Now!
844
00:35:49,927 --> 00:35:51,629
- [Randy] Music from Toxic Reasons.
845
00:35:51,863 --> 00:35:53,607
Once again they're gonna
be coming to City Gardens
846
00:35:53,631 --> 00:35:55,209
sometime in late May,
probably on a Wednesday
847
00:35:55,233 --> 00:35:56,968
night, the song is called Power Craze from
848
00:35:57,201 --> 00:35:58,681
their new LP called "Killed by Remote
849
00:35:58,870 --> 00:36:00,505
"Control" I think.
850
00:36:00,738 --> 00:36:02,406
Who cares? Anyway, before that GD Job and
851
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:04,242
Color Me Impressed, live music from
852
00:36:04,475 --> 00:36:06,353
The Replacements, recorded
live at City Gardens.
853
00:36:06,377 --> 00:36:08,045
And we heard about 80 or 90 songs from
854
00:36:08,279 --> 00:36:09,647
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles first LP,
855
00:36:09,881 --> 00:36:11,482
and I'm not even gonna name the songs
856
00:36:11,716 --> 00:36:13,293
'cause I didn't have a chance to write 'em
857
00:36:13,317 --> 00:36:14,652
down and I don't even care.
858
00:36:14,886 --> 00:36:16,587
You know what I mean?
859
00:36:17,922 --> 00:36:19,233
- Randy had a show
called, "The Other Side".
860
00:36:19,257 --> 00:36:20,801
The beautiful thing about
it was that it was comedy.
861
00:36:20,825 --> 00:36:22,527
It was like, punk rock and comedy.
862
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:24,600
- [Randy] I am the Riot
Reverend Right on Brown
863
00:36:24,662 --> 00:36:25,997
here, yes, that's right.
864
00:36:26,230 --> 00:36:27,565
You might know my brother.
865
00:36:27,798 --> 00:36:29,567
He's the godfather of soul, James Brown.
866
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:30,800
That's my brother, super.
867
00:36:31,002 --> 00:36:33,104
Everybody say "amen".
(people saying "amen")
868
00:36:33,337 --> 00:36:35,173
Say "yeah", hah!
869
00:36:35,406 --> 00:36:37,246
- [Jeff] Randy absolutely
believed at this time
870
00:36:37,408 --> 00:36:40,678
that Howard Stern totally stole his show.
871
00:36:41,245 --> 00:36:43,347
- You know, when I was like 17 years old,
872
00:36:43,581 --> 00:36:45,349
my friend and I used
to go down when he was
873
00:36:45,583 --> 00:36:47,383
on the air, and we would
hang out in the lobby
874
00:36:47,518 --> 00:36:49,220
and just listen to the show.
875
00:36:49,453 --> 00:36:51,422
- [Randy] Okay, Flipper's
on the east coast,
876
00:36:51,656 --> 00:36:53,357
you're playing tonight at City Gardens,
877
00:36:53,591 --> 00:36:55,259
WTSR party.
878
00:36:55,493 --> 00:36:56,803
This is your third time to City Gardens.
879
00:36:56,827 --> 00:36:58,563
- [Male Voice] Yep.
880
00:36:58,796 --> 00:37:00,231
- [Randy] You like the room or not?
881
00:37:00,464 --> 00:37:02,300
- [Male Voice] The first
time Ted got smashed,
882
00:37:02,533 --> 00:37:04,402
the second time the truck got smashed.
883
00:37:04,635 --> 00:37:06,246
- We knew that he was
affiliated with the club,
884
00:37:06,270 --> 00:37:07,972
so we imagined that he was the ambassador
885
00:37:08,206 --> 00:37:10,083
of all this music that
we were just discovering,
886
00:37:10,107 --> 00:37:11,742
and getting really interested in.
887
00:37:11,976 --> 00:37:13,496
So we would just hang out in the lobby
888
00:37:13,544 --> 00:37:15,064
and listen to whatever he was playing.
889
00:37:15,179 --> 00:37:17,215
- [Mickey] So we started
tapin' music of their
890
00:37:17,448 --> 00:37:20,117
shows, started calling
in to like, Randy's show.
891
00:37:20,351 --> 00:37:22,191
And I think he thought
it was really funny that
892
00:37:22,353 --> 00:37:24,422
these little 12, 13 year olds with high,
893
00:37:24,655 --> 00:37:26,324
squeaky voices were callin' in,
894
00:37:26,557 --> 00:37:28,259
and he asked where we're from.
895
00:37:28,492 --> 00:37:29,827
- [Randy] Hi, you're on the air.
896
00:37:30,061 --> 00:37:31,429
(dial tone)
No you're not.
897
00:37:31,662 --> 00:37:32,730
Hi.
898
00:37:32,964 --> 00:37:33,965
- [Mickey] Hi, Randy?
899
00:37:34,198 --> 00:37:35,399
- [Randy] Hi, how ya doin'?
900
00:37:35,633 --> 00:37:36,968
- [Mickey] Hi, this is Mickey.
901
00:37:37,201 --> 00:37:38,445
- [Randy] Mickey, how you doin'?
902
00:37:38,469 --> 00:37:39,470
- [Mickey] I'm fine.
903
00:37:39,704 --> 00:37:41,072
- [Randy] Mickey the Dickie.
904
00:37:41,305 --> 00:37:42,305
- [Mickey] That's me.
905
00:37:42,506 --> 00:37:44,117
- One day, this little
kid who I don't know,
906
00:37:44,141 --> 00:37:45,686
maybe he was like 13 starts showin' up,
907
00:37:45,710 --> 00:37:47,111
and his name is Mickey the Dickie.
908
00:37:47,345 --> 00:37:49,105
He's this kid who is
obsessed with punk rock,
909
00:37:49,313 --> 00:37:50,993
and he loved my radio show and just starts
910
00:37:51,182 --> 00:37:52,726
hangin' out, ends up on the air with me
911
00:37:52,750 --> 00:37:55,152
all the time and he's
spinnin' records with me.
912
00:37:55,386 --> 00:37:57,121
And the reason he's Mickey the Dickie is
913
00:37:57,355 --> 00:37:59,423
because he's obsessed
with the band The Dickies.
914
00:37:59,657 --> 00:38:01,659
And who could blame him?
915
00:38:01,892 --> 00:38:03,852
And I remember one day,
he shows up and he's like,
916
00:38:03,894 --> 00:38:07,465
"I started a band and
here's my first cassette.
917
00:38:07,698 --> 00:38:09,767
"We're called 🎜Ween🎜".
918
00:38:10,001 --> 00:38:11,921
- He'd make a recording
of himself playing drums,
919
00:38:12,036 --> 00:38:14,538
and then bass, with all these boom boxes
920
00:38:14,772 --> 00:38:17,008
he would make these
really crude recordings,
921
00:38:17,241 --> 00:38:19,343
and then he'd play guitar on top of that
922
00:38:19,577 --> 00:38:21,679
and record it and have his friend sing.
923
00:38:21,912 --> 00:38:23,981
- [Scott] Those first
couple of performances
924
00:38:24,215 --> 00:38:25,883
were with tape.
925
00:38:26,117 --> 00:38:28,352
They had bass and drums on a tape,
926
00:38:28,586 --> 00:38:30,688
and then Mick would have a guitar live,
927
00:38:30,921 --> 00:38:33,057
and then Aaron would just be singing.
928
00:38:33,291 --> 00:38:35,026
He wasn't playing guitar yet.
929
00:38:35,259 --> 00:38:36,837
- [Jonathan] They'd put
out one cassette after
930
00:38:36,861 --> 00:38:38,405
another cassette, I
had piles of cassettes.
931
00:38:38,429 --> 00:38:40,040
And I wouldn't even
listen to it I was like,
932
00:38:40,064 --> 00:38:43,000
this is the most horrible crap garbage.
933
00:38:43,234 --> 00:38:45,303
And just was like, this
guy's such a weirdo.
934
00:38:45,536 --> 00:38:47,738
I liked him but I thought
he was a real weirdo.
935
00:38:47,972 --> 00:38:49,852
- [Simeon] I mean, Ween
had this ability to fill
936
00:38:50,041 --> 00:38:52,843
a room as an opening
act, mind you, of people
937
00:38:53,077 --> 00:38:55,846
who absolutely hated them, but three years
938
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:57,748
later were buying their record.
939
00:38:57,982 --> 00:39:00,084
I mean, they were really brave. (laughs)
940
00:39:00,318 --> 00:39:01,719
- We opened for The Ramones.
941
00:39:01,952 --> 00:39:04,388
Randy put us on the bill with Foghat.
942
00:39:04,622 --> 00:39:08,759
We played with Butthole Surfers,
943
00:39:08,993 --> 00:39:11,429
played with Mojo Nixon, we played with
944
00:39:11,662 --> 00:39:14,498
7 Seconds, we played with Fugazi.
945
00:39:14,732 --> 00:39:16,500
- I think Randy had a
lot of guilty pleasures
946
00:39:16,834 --> 00:39:18,754
when it came to music,
and there's a lot of music
947
00:39:18,836 --> 00:39:22,039
like myself being a hardcore kid,
948
00:39:22,273 --> 00:39:23,941
there's things I don't want people to
949
00:39:24,175 --> 00:39:25,876
know I listen to.
950
00:39:26,110 --> 00:39:27,845
I think Randy had that.
951
00:39:28,079 --> 00:39:30,214
- The film Yoko made called Erection,
952
00:39:30,448 --> 00:39:32,288
they showed a part of
on the Mike Douglas show.
953
00:39:32,583 --> 00:39:34,183
(laughs) No, good guess though good try.
954
00:39:34,352 --> 00:39:35,929
No, it was a building being constructed.
955
00:39:35,953 --> 00:39:37,497
It was just a film like, they shot three
956
00:39:37,521 --> 00:39:39,290
seconds a day over the course of a year,
957
00:39:39,523 --> 00:39:41,625
and you see this building being erected.
958
00:39:41,859 --> 00:39:44,028
But once again, they didn't censor
959
00:39:44,261 --> 00:39:46,764
him and her when they...
960
00:39:46,997 --> 00:39:48,366
- [Lon] Well they couldn't because
961
00:39:48,599 --> 00:39:50,101
it was about a building.
962
00:39:50,334 --> 00:39:52,236
- Exactly, and remember John performed
963
00:39:52,470 --> 00:39:54,138
"Woman is the Nigger of the World".
964
00:39:54,372 --> 00:39:56,140
- and Mike Douglas...
- That was 19...
965
00:39:56,374 --> 00:39:57,808
before 1980 right?
966
00:39:58,042 --> 00:39:59,686
- [Randy] Oh my gosh, it better have been.
967
00:39:59,710 --> 00:40:01,479
- I would say like '69, '70.
- Late 70's?
968
00:40:01,712 --> 00:40:03,547
No, it was when he was solo,
969
00:40:03,781 --> 00:40:05,149
so it wasn't that early.
970
00:40:05,383 --> 00:40:06,793
- [Randy] You talk and I can look it up.
971
00:40:06,817 --> 00:40:08,457
- Why don't you talk and I'll look it up?
972
00:40:08,552 --> 00:40:09,987
(Randy laughs)
973
00:40:10,221 --> 00:40:12,590
- He's the original iPod Shuffle, ya know.
974
00:40:12,823 --> 00:40:14,525
(laughs) He just did it with actual bands.
975
00:40:20,598 --> 00:40:22,733
- (laughs) It's hot in here, damn it!
976
00:40:23,300 --> 00:40:25,202
- [Henry] In 1986, I'm forgetting the
977
00:40:26,270 --> 00:40:28,506
exact month, maybe April.
978
00:40:29,240 --> 00:40:33,244
April or May of 1986, Black Flag was
979
00:40:33,477 --> 00:40:35,613
doing it's last ever tour.
980
00:40:35,846 --> 00:40:37,982
We didn't know that we
were breaking up yet.
981
00:40:38,215 --> 00:40:40,351
That was to happen a few months later,
982
00:40:40,785 --> 00:40:42,920
but we were on the east coast and I think
983
00:40:43,154 --> 00:40:47,091
we were circulating around the Hoboken,
984
00:40:47,324 --> 00:40:52,229
Jersey area, and we got a call from Randy
985
00:40:52,463 --> 00:40:55,766
and he said, "I see on your itinerary
986
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:58,269
"you guys have a day off coming up",
987
00:40:58,502 --> 00:40:59,870
and we said, "Yeah", and he said,
988
00:41:00,104 --> 00:41:01,904
"Well, how would you
like to make some money?"
989
00:41:02,106 --> 00:41:03,874
"Well, what are you proposing?"
990
00:41:04,108 --> 00:41:06,644
- I really needed a lot of sound rental,
991
00:41:06,877 --> 00:41:09,113
and Black Flag was on the road with this
992
00:41:09,346 --> 00:41:12,516
absolutely amazing, freakin' wall of
993
00:41:12,750 --> 00:41:14,852
you know, power.
994
00:41:15,085 --> 00:41:16,885
- [Henry] "So it will be
Overkill, Black Flag,
995
00:41:17,087 --> 00:41:18,889
"Venom. We'll pay you to play,
996
00:41:19,123 --> 00:41:20,958
"and we'll pay you for your PA."
997
00:41:21,192 --> 00:41:23,360
Which is so much better
than a day off for us.
998
00:41:23,594 --> 00:41:25,362
You know, we need to pay for that PA,
999
00:41:25,596 --> 00:41:26,964
the truck, et cetera.
1000
00:41:27,198 --> 00:41:30,401
So, we ended up spontaneously going to
1001
00:41:30,634 --> 00:41:33,571
City Gardens in this middle band slot.
1002
00:41:33,804 --> 00:41:35,673
- So I had a chance to put together this
1003
00:41:35,906 --> 00:41:38,976
Venom, and Black Flag together.
1004
00:41:41,879 --> 00:41:44,648
Venom was just, they were
so full of themselves.
1005
00:41:44,882 --> 00:41:46,851
The typical heavy metal.
1006
00:41:47,084 --> 00:41:49,553
You know, Black Flag and
Henry was the vocalist
1007
00:41:49,787 --> 00:41:51,889
and walked around, "Hey
man how ya doin'?",
1008
00:41:52,122 --> 00:41:55,326
Cronos and Venom, they
were in a dressing room
1009
00:41:55,559 --> 00:41:57,228
and I had to have a security guard
1010
00:41:57,461 --> 00:41:59,230
walk 'em to the stage.
1011
00:41:59,463 --> 00:42:01,999
- We played and I remember
asking the audience
1012
00:42:02,233 --> 00:42:05,503
"Is Satan here tonight?
1013
00:42:05,736 --> 00:42:07,605
"Did Satan show up? Anyone.
1014
00:42:07,838 --> 00:42:09,907
"Satan. No one, Satan? Okay."
1015
00:42:10,140 --> 00:42:13,777
- These guys took it so so seriously,
1016
00:42:14,011 --> 00:42:16,580
and you know they're
like trying to actually
1017
00:42:16,814 --> 00:42:20,417
be this ultra Satanic
kind of like, entity.
1018
00:42:20,651 --> 00:42:22,453
At the end of the day, they're these
1019
00:42:22,686 --> 00:42:24,188
European guys wearing leg warmers
1020
00:42:24,421 --> 00:42:26,190
and red boots and stuff, who just kinda
1021
00:42:26,423 --> 00:42:27,892
just didn't get it.
1022
00:42:28,125 --> 00:42:30,294
- Well Henry, drew with a magic marker on
1023
00:42:30,528 --> 00:42:33,130
his hand the Satanic
pentagram, I guess it's
1024
00:42:33,364 --> 00:42:35,199
called, and he would hold it up.
1025
00:42:35,432 --> 00:42:37,201
Well he would walk up to you like this,
1026
00:42:37,434 --> 00:42:39,603
he'd go, and I don't
know if he did the Spock
1027
00:42:39,837 --> 00:42:41,872
thing or not like that, but he'd go,
1028
00:42:42,106 --> 00:42:43,807
"Hail Satan". (laughs)
1029
00:42:44,041 --> 00:42:46,777
- Venom, in 1981
releasing Welcome to Hell,
1030
00:42:47,011 --> 00:42:49,880
did something so extreme that no one else
1031
00:42:50,114 --> 00:42:52,550
had ever even come close to doing,
1032
00:42:52,783 --> 00:42:54,718
they went as far into the corner with
1033
00:42:54,952 --> 00:42:56,787
the Satanic stuff as possible.
1034
00:42:57,021 --> 00:42:59,223
- Combining Black Flag with Overkill
1035
00:42:59,456 --> 00:43:02,660
and Venom, I mean that
just complete insanity.
1036
00:43:02,893 --> 00:43:05,829
- Venom gets on stage
and you know their doing
1037
00:43:06,063 --> 00:43:08,766
their thing, and the crowd
is completely into it.
1038
00:43:08,999 --> 00:43:13,637
Jersey metal maniacs are just die hard!
1039
00:43:13,871 --> 00:43:16,407
- And they screamed and hollered at me,
1040
00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:18,409
"I walked through the crowd and I didn't
1041
00:43:18,642 --> 00:43:20,411
"have a security guard with me". (laughs)
1042
00:43:20,644 --> 00:43:22,446
Like, fuck you.
1043
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:24,181
- And they sucked!
1044
00:43:24,415 --> 00:43:26,250
They sucked really really bad,
1045
00:43:26,483 --> 00:43:28,185
they couldn't play, the didn't know what
1046
00:43:28,419 --> 00:43:29,853
to say in between songs.
1047
00:43:30,087 --> 00:43:32,289
(laughs) And it was just horrible.
1048
00:43:32,523 --> 00:43:34,358
Our sound man, Dave, Rat of Rat's Sound
1049
00:43:34,592 --> 00:43:37,161
put a cassette in to the board we had,
1050
00:43:37,394 --> 00:43:38,996
we had a cassette deck and the board to
1051
00:43:39,229 --> 00:43:40,531
make recordings.
1052
00:43:40,764 --> 00:43:42,724
- [Randy] Dave Rat recorded
every Black Flag show,
1053
00:43:42,866 --> 00:43:45,035
so he's doin' the sound for Venom,
1054
00:43:45,269 --> 00:43:47,037
so he records the whole show.
1055
00:43:47,271 --> 00:43:48,906
- And we played the tape later,
1056
00:43:49,139 --> 00:43:50,708
and it became legendary to us.
1057
00:44:18,035 --> 00:44:21,205
- The tape was duped,
and given to other bands.
1058
00:44:21,438 --> 00:44:25,142
One of them we made a
copy for Thurston Moore,
1059
00:44:25,376 --> 00:44:27,144
of Sonic Youth.
1060
00:44:27,378 --> 00:44:29,079
He immediately made...
1061
00:44:29,313 --> 00:44:31,882
He edited all the raps
from the between song
1062
00:44:32,116 --> 00:44:35,052
banter of Cronus and made a seven inch.
1063
00:44:35,285 --> 00:44:37,521
- They cut out all the actual music and
1064
00:44:37,755 --> 00:44:39,923
just put out a seven
inch of all the banter.
1065
00:44:40,157 --> 00:44:43,060
It's crazy because to listen to that,
1066
00:44:43,293 --> 00:44:45,496
I would never think I
would get to hear that
1067
00:44:45,729 --> 00:44:47,531
stuff ever again.
1068
00:44:47,765 --> 00:44:49,566
To hear it again and just laugh at it,
1069
00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:51,602
and people to really be like, "You were
1070
00:44:51,835 --> 00:44:53,771
"there for that?", and
I'm like, "Yeah I was."
1071
00:44:57,841 --> 00:44:59,843
- [Randy] From that show,
a lot of metal heads
1072
00:45:00,077 --> 00:45:02,212
were there for Venom
were like, "Holy shit,
1073
00:45:02,446 --> 00:45:05,382
"this Black Flag band
is fuckin' powerful."
1074
00:45:05,616 --> 00:45:07,851
And I kept yackin' on the microphone,
1075
00:45:08,085 --> 00:45:10,254
"Hey, Black Flag's back
here in two weeks."
1076
00:45:10,487 --> 00:45:14,124
Maybe we started the
whole mixing of the metal
1077
00:45:14,358 --> 00:45:17,127
and punk right there at that show.
1078
00:45:17,361 --> 00:45:20,564
(phone ringing)
1079
00:45:25,235 --> 00:45:26,835
- [Female Recording] Hey, you've reached
1080
00:45:27,037 --> 00:45:28,939
King Tut's City Gardens,
leave a message for
1081
00:45:29,173 --> 00:45:31,875
Frank or Randy after the beep.
(beep)
1082
00:45:33,377 --> 00:45:35,345
- [Jeff] Listen, my name's Jeff.
1083
00:45:35,579 --> 00:45:37,548
The Bad Brains are playing there I see,
1084
00:45:37,781 --> 00:45:40,818
and listen, you don't have to pay us.
1085
00:45:41,051 --> 00:45:43,253
I said, "I'll pay you to let us play".
1086
00:45:43,487 --> 00:45:45,322
Please, please get back to me.
1087
00:45:45,556 --> 00:45:47,491
Randy called me back in
like, an hour and half
1088
00:45:48,625 --> 00:45:50,260
two hours later and was like, "Yeah.
1089
00:45:50,494 --> 00:45:52,396
"You guys want it?"
1090
00:45:52,629 --> 00:45:54,269
- Another GWAR legend, the walk of shame.
1091
00:45:54,364 --> 00:45:55,833
This is the first time I ever heard
1092
00:45:56,066 --> 00:45:57,777
the phrase walk of shame,
now later it went to
1093
00:45:57,801 --> 00:45:59,570
become the walk of shame is obviously
1094
00:45:59,803 --> 00:46:01,705
when you're walking home
from your boyfriend's
1095
00:46:01,939 --> 00:46:04,141
apartment or whatever,
and you couldn't find
1096
00:46:04,374 --> 00:46:06,276
one of your shoes.
1097
00:46:06,510 --> 00:46:08,312
But for us it was a show we played.
1098
00:46:08,545 --> 00:46:10,414
We'd been playing at City Gardens a lot,
1099
00:46:10,647 --> 00:46:12,816
probably too much, and we played a show.
1100
00:46:13,050 --> 00:46:15,285
The turnout wasn't all
that great, and it was
1101
00:46:15,519 --> 00:46:17,721
a show where we hadn't
really rehearsed very well,
1102
00:46:17,955 --> 00:46:20,924
and for some reason I
was trying a new mask
1103
00:46:21,158 --> 00:46:22,793
out that night, and just for some reason
1104
00:46:23,026 --> 00:46:25,963
we came off as really
flat and the performance
1105
00:46:26,196 --> 00:46:28,098
just didn't have any pizzazz to it.
1106
00:46:28,332 --> 00:46:29,609
- [Bob] And it was New Year's Eve.
1107
00:46:29,633 --> 00:46:31,193
- [Dave] And it was like New Year's Eve
1108
00:46:31,368 --> 00:46:33,237
as well to make it even worse.
1109
00:46:33,470 --> 00:46:35,405
And then so after the show was over with
1110
00:46:35,639 --> 00:46:37,441
we had to walk back to
the dressing room for
1111
00:46:37,674 --> 00:46:38,742
that one it was like...
1112
00:46:38,976 --> 00:46:40,477
Usually we were up above the stage in
1113
00:46:40,711 --> 00:46:41,871
that weird little cubby hole,
1114
00:46:42,079 --> 00:46:43,759
but for some reason it was way at the back
1115
00:46:43,814 --> 00:46:44,948
of the club this time.
1116
00:46:45,182 --> 00:46:46,742
So we had to like, walk after this show
1117
00:46:46,850 --> 00:46:48,194
all the way back through the crowd.
1118
00:46:48,218 --> 00:46:49,662
And I remember people
saying stuff to me like,
1119
00:46:49,686 --> 00:46:51,188
"Yeah, not very good this time."
1120
00:46:51,421 --> 00:46:52,823
(laughter)
1121
00:46:53,056 --> 00:46:54,591
"Didn't do a very good job this time."
1122
00:46:54,825 --> 00:46:55,492
- We were cleaning up the stage,
1123
00:46:55,726 --> 00:46:57,761
Ween was supposed to
open for us that night,
1124
00:46:57,995 --> 00:46:59,515
and they were already over us and they
1125
00:46:59,696 --> 00:47:01,336
had a party at their house,
- [Dave] Yeah!
1126
00:47:01,398 --> 00:47:03,176
- [Bob] and people went
to their house for free
1127
00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:05,435
and didn't come to see us.
1128
00:47:05,669 --> 00:47:07,413
We were cleaning up the stage,
- Thanks, Ween.
1129
00:47:07,437 --> 00:47:09,215
- We were cleaning up
the stage and I remember
1130
00:47:09,239 --> 00:47:10,583
a couple of guy at the
front row were standing
1131
00:47:10,607 --> 00:47:11,918
there against the barricade and they were
1132
00:47:11,942 --> 00:47:13,253
thinkin' there was
gonna be something else.
1133
00:47:13,277 --> 00:47:14,945
They were like, "That's it?"
1134
00:47:15,179 --> 00:47:16,339
And we were like, "Oh, damn."
1135
00:47:16,547 --> 00:47:18,048
- [Chuck] Randy put on reggae shows,
1136
00:47:18,282 --> 00:47:19,716
he put on ska shows,
1137
00:47:19,950 --> 00:47:21,470
he put on funk shows, and anybody that
1138
00:47:21,618 --> 00:47:23,298
would come in and play,
Living Color played
1139
00:47:23,420 --> 00:47:24,855
some of their first shows there.
1140
00:47:25,088 --> 00:47:26,688
Talking about ground breaking bands that
1141
00:47:26,857 --> 00:47:28,535
went on to do something
outside of punk rock.
1142
00:47:28,559 --> 00:47:30,079
- We opened up for Henry Rollins there
1143
00:47:30,260 --> 00:47:31,728
in like, '92 or '93.
1144
00:47:31,962 --> 00:47:36,533
I guess later someone told
1145
00:47:36,767 --> 00:47:39,036
us he had written about us in one of
1146
00:47:39,269 --> 00:47:40,737
- his books.
- Randy told us.
1147
00:47:40,971 --> 00:47:43,049
- I think it was '91 or two '92.
- Yeah, Randy told us.
1148
00:47:43,073 --> 00:47:44,575
- And like he wrote...
1149
00:47:44,808 --> 00:47:48,979
Whatever like, November eighth, 1991.
1150
00:47:49,213 --> 00:47:51,849
City Gardens, opening band was so bad
1151
00:47:52,082 --> 00:47:53,984
that it inspired me to like, really rock,
1152
00:47:54,218 --> 00:47:55,652
really, really hard.
1153
00:47:55,886 --> 00:47:57,821
- He kinda dissed us in it.
- Yeah.
1154
00:47:58,055 --> 00:47:59,923
- But, we were kinda dicks though too.
1155
00:48:00,157 --> 00:48:01,825
- We were little pricks that day.
1156
00:48:02,059 --> 00:48:03,560
- Little snot nosed kids.
1157
00:48:03,794 --> 00:48:05,714
-🎜 Bigger Thomas -
'Telling Time' music plays 🎜
1158
00:48:07,231 --> 00:48:09,633
- You guys owe me ten minutes alright.
1159
00:48:42,099 --> 00:48:44,334
Randy was like the dad, he'd tell you,
1160
00:48:44,568 --> 00:48:48,872
"Hey, that was okay",
or "That set was okay,
1161
00:48:49,139 --> 00:48:50,774
"here's what I would change",
1162
00:48:51,008 --> 00:48:52,943
and he really wanted you to get better.
1163
00:48:53,176 --> 00:48:55,412
So I felt like it was gonna fun,
1164
00:48:55,646 --> 00:48:57,414
it'd be a lot of people,
we're gonna have to
1165
00:48:57,648 --> 00:48:59,483
bring our A game, and
Randy, whatever Randy
1166
00:48:59,716 --> 00:49:01,685
didn't like, Randy's gonna tell us.
1167
00:49:01,919 --> 00:49:03,687
But not in a way like, "You guys suck",
1168
00:49:03,921 --> 00:49:05,822
but like, "Next time you
might wanna think about
1169
00:49:06,056 --> 00:49:08,458
"doing this and doing that."
1170
00:49:09,326 --> 00:49:11,762
City Gardens was, that was my
1171
00:49:11,995 --> 00:49:14,531
performing arts school.
1172
00:49:14,765 --> 00:49:17,634
(🎜 Bing Satellites -
'Motif Four' music plays 🎜)
1173
00:49:25,876 --> 00:49:28,111
- [Randy] This is where I lived in
1174
00:49:28,345 --> 00:49:30,547
I guess the mid-late '80's.
1175
00:49:30,781 --> 00:49:34,985
And we were paying like
only, $100 a month.
1176
00:49:35,218 --> 00:49:37,521
And this is where a lot of bands stayed
1177
00:49:37,754 --> 00:49:41,158
and where I made a lot
of friends with bands.
1178
00:49:46,029 --> 00:49:48,231
Mojo Nixon stayed here,
he stayed here quite
1179
00:49:48,465 --> 00:49:50,367
a few times and he had these
1180
00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:52,803
little firecrackers he tied to the two
1181
00:49:53,036 --> 00:49:55,372
drawers of my desk drawer, so if I opened
1182
00:49:55,605 --> 00:49:57,975
one or the other one they snapped.
1183
00:49:58,208 --> 00:50:00,410
Right in my freakin' hand.
1184
00:50:00,644 --> 00:50:03,246
(clucking)
1185
00:50:03,480 --> 00:50:07,284
(🎜 gentle music plays 🎜)
1186
00:50:30,907 --> 00:50:32,542
This was here when I was here.
1187
00:50:32,776 --> 00:50:34,778
George made this
refrigerator and so I guess
1188
00:50:35,012 --> 00:50:36,546
there's a keg probably inside,
1189
00:50:36,780 --> 00:50:38,348
and that was the tap and all the
1190
00:50:38,582 --> 00:50:40,417
bands would drink.
1191
00:50:40,650 --> 00:50:42,552
Well it's not hooked up anymore.
1192
00:50:42,786 --> 00:50:45,689
There's still a lot of
beer in here though.
1193
00:50:46,523 --> 00:50:48,125
This is probably a 250 year old house,
1194
00:50:48,358 --> 00:50:51,028
300 year old house.
1195
00:50:53,430 --> 00:50:55,365
I remember The Dickies staying overnight.
1196
00:50:55,599 --> 00:50:57,534
Leonard had some girl with him and they
1197
00:50:57,768 --> 00:50:59,269
were up on the third floor.
1198
00:50:59,503 --> 00:51:01,805
Did you see from the outside?
1199
00:51:02,039 --> 00:51:05,242
This is the way it was, no steps here.
1200
00:51:05,475 --> 00:51:07,210
- [Peter] He loved the music so much,
1201
00:51:07,444 --> 00:51:09,713
he wanted to spread word around,
1202
00:51:09,946 --> 00:51:12,249
he wanted to help out kids
who were making music,
1203
00:51:12,482 --> 00:51:14,217
he wanted to help out
bands that were coming
1204
00:51:14,451 --> 00:51:16,386
through, and he thought, well the only way
1205
00:51:16,620 --> 00:51:18,264
he could do this is if he just takes it on
1206
00:51:18,288 --> 00:51:20,290
and does it himself.
1207
00:51:20,524 --> 00:51:22,459
- This is the desk I did all my
1208
00:51:22,692 --> 00:51:24,995
calls, ya know, on it and did all my work.
1209
00:51:25,228 --> 00:51:29,332
This is the desk that
booked a million shows.
1210
00:51:29,566 --> 00:51:32,269
- And to have someone who was so clearly
1211
00:51:32,502 --> 00:51:36,740
enthusiastic and so
clearly compassionate to
1212
00:51:36,973 --> 00:51:39,643
these kids, who otherwise wouldn't have
1213
00:51:39,876 --> 00:51:42,913
had a chance.
1214
00:51:43,146 --> 00:51:45,348
People were just...
1215
00:51:45,582 --> 00:51:47,918
Their minds were blown by that.
1216
00:51:48,151 --> 00:51:51,521
(🎜 gentle music plays 🎜)
1217
00:51:52,789 --> 00:51:55,158
- Hey, it was really cool livin' here,
1218
00:51:55,392 --> 00:51:57,794
and just workin' with
all the bands and stuff.
1219
00:51:58,028 --> 00:52:00,330
That's one of those
things that nobody really
1220
00:52:00,564 --> 00:52:02,499
even knows about, the bands used to stay
1221
00:52:02,732 --> 00:52:04,668
at my house instead of a band going
1222
00:52:04,901 --> 00:52:07,637
to a hotel for whatever, 40 bucks a night.
1223
00:52:07,871 --> 00:52:10,107
You know, two rooms or three rooms.
1224
00:52:10,340 --> 00:52:12,876
They would stay here.
1225
00:52:13,343 --> 00:52:15,979
It was all free for the bands.
1226
00:52:17,547 --> 00:52:19,182
(horn honking)
1227
00:52:19,416 --> 00:52:21,251
Bye.
1228
00:52:35,398 --> 00:52:37,367
The farmhouse was so
big I could accommodate
1229
00:52:37,601 --> 00:52:40,303
GWAR, 14 people, and you know, Dag Nasty
1230
00:52:40,537 --> 00:52:42,472
stayed over, and Suicidal.
1231
00:52:42,706 --> 00:52:44,574
And when I moved to
New Hope, Fugazi stayed
1232
00:52:44,808 --> 00:52:46,743
over a couple of nights.
1233
00:52:46,977 --> 00:52:48,912
Fugazi, when they came
over I don't even know
1234
00:52:49,146 --> 00:52:50,906
how I got into it, I
just started showin' 'em
1235
00:52:50,981 --> 00:52:52,661
Ernie Kovacs videos,
who I don't think they
1236
00:52:52,749 --> 00:52:54,560
were familiar with, and
then we started showing
1237
00:52:54,584 --> 00:52:56,920
Spike Jones videos.
1238
00:52:57,154 --> 00:52:59,422
(drum beating)
1239
00:52:59,656 --> 00:53:01,391
They'd never heard of this guy before.
1240
00:53:01,625 --> 00:53:04,327
- I'd never heard of Spike Jones.
1241
00:53:07,998 --> 00:53:09,798
You have musician, but
then you have a guy who
1242
00:53:09,833 --> 00:53:11,835
just played like shooting
a gun in the air.
1243
00:53:12,068 --> 00:53:14,004
Just like very, jacked up and
1244
00:53:14,237 --> 00:53:17,240
strangely punk in it's own way.
1245
00:53:17,474 --> 00:53:20,177
I really, really appreciated him.
1246
00:53:20,410 --> 00:53:22,379
We just watched, we couldn't believe it.
1247
00:53:22,612 --> 00:53:24,548
We were watching it, and
then he just gave me...
1248
00:53:24,781 --> 00:53:26,716
I have the video tape still, he just gave
1249
00:53:26,950 --> 00:53:28,518
me a Spike Jones video tape.
1250
00:53:28,752 --> 00:53:30,253
- He had a fascination with things,
1251
00:53:30,487 --> 00:53:32,207
everything musical, but
he had a fascination
1252
00:53:32,289 --> 00:53:34,291
with things outside of music too.
1253
00:53:34,524 --> 00:53:39,462
And he was always so willing to share.
1254
00:53:39,696 --> 00:53:42,299
Unfortunately for me,
one of the things that
1255
00:53:42,532 --> 00:53:45,068
he shared was the video tape that
1256
00:53:45,302 --> 00:53:47,204
he had managed to procure from I guess
1257
00:53:47,437 --> 00:53:49,906
a friend who worked at a TV station.
1258
00:53:51,741 --> 00:53:54,144
- [Peter] He gave me
my first experience of
1259
00:53:54,377 --> 00:53:57,814
watching someone die on TV.
1260
00:53:58,048 --> 00:54:00,050
- [Randy] But I remember like The Mentors,
1261
00:54:00,283 --> 00:54:02,219
El Duce was like, "Oh
fuck man, I got a video
1262
00:54:02,452 --> 00:54:04,054
"of a guy sticking his head in an
1263
00:54:04,287 --> 00:54:05,956
"elephant asshole, I'll let you have that
1264
00:54:06,189 --> 00:54:08,225
"if you let me have a copy of Budd Dwyer",
1265
00:54:08,458 --> 00:54:10,393
I was like, "What?" (laughs)
1266
00:54:10,627 --> 00:54:12,629
I was not a collector, believe me,
1267
00:54:12,862 --> 00:54:14,497
I wasn't a collector, I just happened
1268
00:54:14,731 --> 00:54:16,333
to have it.
1269
00:54:16,566 --> 00:54:17,834
Have you ever seen it?
1270
00:54:18,068 --> 00:54:20,070
- [Jello] Some of the
promoters were clearly
1271
00:54:20,303 --> 00:54:22,439
clinically insane, and
if they didn't start
1272
00:54:23,073 --> 00:54:25,108
out that way, the stress of trying to put
1273
00:54:25,342 --> 00:54:28,144
punk shows on would make them that way.
1274
00:54:28,378 --> 00:54:32,349
Some how Randy never got quite that far,
1275
00:54:32,582 --> 00:54:36,486
but he had to have a few screws loose
1276
00:54:36,720 --> 00:54:38,622
or he wouldn't be doing
this in the first place.
1277
00:54:38,855 --> 00:54:42,025
Especially not year after year after year,
1278
00:54:42,259 --> 00:54:44,628
and inviting the likes of Dead Kennedys
1279
00:54:44,861 --> 00:54:47,998
back into his club again and again.
1280
00:54:48,231 --> 00:54:50,700
- We might have like had three motel
1281
00:54:50,934 --> 00:54:54,471
rooms in our nine year
career or something,
1282
00:54:54,704 --> 00:54:58,108
while we were on tour
we like slept on floors
1283
00:54:58,341 --> 00:55:00,343
next to like, dirty cat litter boxes.
1284
00:55:00,577 --> 00:55:02,178
And when we were in Europe we stayed in
1285
00:55:02,412 --> 00:55:04,781
squats that had no heat and hot water,
1286
00:55:05,015 --> 00:55:06,950
and we were just freezing in the middle
1287
00:55:07,183 --> 00:55:08,785
of Europe in the middle of winter.
1288
00:55:09,019 --> 00:55:10,659
The warmest thing in there was like a dog
1289
00:55:10,787 --> 00:55:12,387
that you're like wrapped around the dog,
1290
00:55:12,589 --> 00:55:13,657
like, "Pass the dog".
1291
00:55:14,424 --> 00:55:16,026
- City Gardens really for me, you know,
1292
00:55:16,259 --> 00:55:17,927
at that point define Trenton.
1293
00:55:18,695 --> 00:55:20,797
But I don't know the city that well.
1294
00:55:21,031 --> 00:55:22,999
Or at all really.
1295
00:55:23,233 --> 00:55:25,201
We'd show up at the club and then here we
1296
00:55:25,435 --> 00:55:27,304
are in Trenton, and didn't really have any
1297
00:55:27,537 --> 00:55:29,506
feeling and need to go out and
1298
00:55:29,739 --> 00:55:32,175
see the city or anything like that.
1299
00:55:32,409 --> 00:55:34,049
Part of it's what you hear cause you roll
1300
00:55:34,210 --> 00:55:36,212
into town and...
1301
00:55:36,446 --> 00:55:38,348
Someone would get some crazy wild hair
1302
00:55:38,581 --> 00:55:42,986
up their ass to go and
have dinner somewhere
1303
00:55:43,219 --> 00:55:46,723
and I don't know if it was Randy,
1304
00:55:46,956 --> 00:55:48,925
but someone would always be like,
1305
00:55:49,159 --> 00:55:51,194
"I don't know about that.
1306
00:55:51,428 --> 00:55:53,029
"We can just give you some food here.
1307
00:55:53,263 --> 00:55:54,943
"We'll give you the
food, you don't need to
1308
00:55:55,098 --> 00:55:57,000
"go out and get it."
1309
00:55:57,233 --> 00:55:58,835
So it gives you this feeling of
1310
00:55:59,069 --> 00:56:00,670
"Just stay here!" (laughs)
1311
00:56:00,904 --> 00:56:02,505
- [Doug] When you grow up in the
1312
00:56:02,739 --> 00:56:04,419
suburbs around Trenton, there are a couple
1313
00:56:04,474 --> 00:56:06,509
of stories about Trenton that you hear.
1314
00:56:06,743 --> 00:56:08,445
One is the story that you hear when you
1315
00:56:08,678 --> 00:56:10,246
go on the capitol tour
1316
00:56:10,480 --> 00:56:12,048
as a fourth grader and they show you
1317
00:56:12,282 --> 00:56:14,284
the Governor's offices
and the big gold dome.
1318
00:56:14,517 --> 00:56:17,721
A lot of state workers work in Trenton,
1319
00:56:17,954 --> 00:56:19,589
that's one story.
1320
00:56:19,823 --> 00:56:21,958
But then there's this story that you hear
1321
00:56:22,192 --> 00:56:23,760
from relatives and older people who've
1322
00:56:23,993 --> 00:56:25,962
lived in the area a long time.
1323
00:56:26,196 --> 00:56:28,131
And that's a sadder story.
1324
00:56:28,365 --> 00:56:31,101
And that story goes along the lines of,
1325
00:56:31,334 --> 00:56:33,703
Trenton used to be this great town.
1326
00:56:33,937 --> 00:56:35,905
Trenton used to be this wonderful place,
1327
00:56:36,139 --> 00:56:37,741
and now it's not.
1328
00:56:37,974 --> 00:56:40,410
That you were taking
a risk by going there.
1329
00:56:40,643 --> 00:56:42,278
Now, granted when you say that to an
1330
00:56:42,512 --> 00:56:44,547
adolescent, that makes it attractive.
1331
00:56:44,781 --> 00:56:46,716
(laughs) That makes it adventurous.
1332
00:56:46,950 --> 00:56:48,918
- Trenton was one of those towns that was
1333
00:56:49,152 --> 00:56:50,653
founded by a Philadelphia man.
1334
00:56:50,887 --> 00:56:52,956
William Trent was a well known merchant,
1335
00:56:53,189 --> 00:56:54,824
business man in Philadelphia,
1336
00:56:55,058 --> 00:56:57,060
who basically came here to summer.
1337
00:56:57,293 --> 00:56:59,496
He had purchased the
land from the original
1338
00:56:59,729 --> 00:57:02,999
founders of the area,
they were Quakers who
1339
00:57:03,233 --> 00:57:05,602
had come here in the late 1600's.
1340
00:57:05,835 --> 00:57:07,837
Trenton started to grow
as Trent took over.
1341
00:57:08,071 --> 00:57:10,073
He started laying out streets,
1342
00:57:10,306 --> 00:57:12,609
he named the place Trent's Town,
1343
00:57:12,842 --> 00:57:15,645
but as the country began
to grow so did the city.
1344
00:57:15,879 --> 00:57:19,115
And when the American Revolution takes off
1345
00:57:19,349 --> 00:57:22,619
the powder keg, or really
the defining moment
1346
00:57:22,852 --> 00:57:25,789
occurs right here in the city of Trenton.
1347
00:57:26,022 --> 00:57:28,625
(musket shots)
1348
00:57:30,293 --> 00:57:31,995
There's two battles that are fought here
1349
00:57:32,228 --> 00:57:33,830
within a week of each other.
1350
00:57:34,063 --> 00:57:36,032
The first battle of Trenton is the first
1351
00:57:36,266 --> 00:57:39,502
victory for American troops at that point.
1352
00:57:39,736 --> 00:57:42,605
They've been going through defeat after
1353
00:57:42,839 --> 00:57:46,509
defeat after defeat,
and prior to the battle
1354
00:57:46,743 --> 00:57:48,545
of Trenton that summer is when the
1355
00:57:48,778 --> 00:57:50,713
Declaration of Independence is signed,
1356
00:57:50,947 --> 00:57:53,116
the book Common Sense comes out.
1357
00:57:53,349 --> 00:57:55,552
People are starting to
rally behind the whole idea,
1358
00:57:55,785 --> 00:57:57,821
and Washington's troops
make their way through
1359
00:57:58,054 --> 00:58:01,691
New Jersey from upstate
New York and other places,
1360
00:58:01,925 --> 00:58:03,993
and then it's Washington's crossing,
1361
00:58:04,227 --> 00:58:06,196
the famous crossing of the Delaware River.
1362
00:58:06,429 --> 00:58:08,631
And then the surprise attack on the
1363
00:58:08,865 --> 00:58:12,535
Hessian troops here on Christmas of 1776.
1364
00:58:12,769 --> 00:58:14,838
The city hasn't changed
much since William Trent
1365
00:58:15,071 --> 00:58:16,873
laid out the streets here.
1366
00:58:17,106 --> 00:58:19,075
It's a convergence of a lot of major
1367
00:58:19,309 --> 00:58:21,678
arteries that work their
way from Pennsylvania,
1368
00:58:21,911 --> 00:58:24,314
New Jersey that all converge on Trenton.
1369
00:58:24,547 --> 00:58:27,750
Most of those streets
are US and state highways
1370
00:58:27,984 --> 00:58:30,053
that bring you into the city,
1371
00:58:30,286 --> 00:58:33,156
and along those streets
and along those roads
1372
00:58:33,389 --> 00:58:36,392
started to settle specific groups.
1373
00:58:36,626 --> 00:58:38,161
Early on it was religious types,
1374
00:58:38,394 --> 00:58:40,029
it was Quakers in one neighborhood,
1375
00:58:40,263 --> 00:58:42,265
Presbyterians in another, the Catholics,
1376
00:58:42,499 --> 00:58:45,335
the Jews, all settled in certain areas.
1377
00:58:45,568 --> 00:58:47,203
In fact, one of the Jewish neighborhoods
1378
00:58:47,437 --> 00:58:49,506
was actually called Jew Town.
1379
00:58:49,739 --> 00:58:51,341
That's what they referred to it because
1380
00:58:51,574 --> 00:58:53,319
it was all Jewish, that's
where the synagogue
1381
00:58:53,343 --> 00:58:55,411
was that's where the
kosher meat market was.
1382
00:58:55,645 --> 00:58:57,347
It wasn't that people were bigoted or
1383
00:58:57,580 --> 00:58:59,582
prejudice, it was they just simply
1384
00:58:59,816 --> 00:59:02,719
surrounded themselves by people the knew
1385
00:59:02,952 --> 00:59:04,621
and understood.
1386
00:59:04,854 --> 00:59:06,614
There was a language
barrier even in Trenton,
1387
00:59:06,756 --> 00:59:08,391
so when you settled in Trenton,
1388
00:59:08,625 --> 00:59:11,060
you settled in a neighborhood with people
1389
00:59:11,294 --> 00:59:14,063
from the same area that you came from.
1390
00:59:17,734 --> 00:59:19,536
Literally anything and
everything you could
1391
00:59:19,769 --> 00:59:22,238
think of had some root in Trenton.
1392
00:59:22,472 --> 00:59:24,541
Whether it was the wire
that was holding up the
1393
00:59:24,774 --> 00:59:26,643
Brooklyn Bridge or the wire that was going
1394
00:59:26,876 --> 00:59:29,312
into building the Golden
Gate Bridge later on,
1395
00:59:29,546 --> 00:59:32,482
or some little porcelain
insulator that was
1396
00:59:32,715 --> 00:59:34,817
going into an electrical motor or..
1397
00:59:35,051 --> 00:59:37,220
It didn't really matter, something had
1398
00:59:37,453 --> 00:59:39,822
something to do with Trenton, and pretty
1399
00:59:40,056 --> 00:59:42,125
much anything and
everything that was being
1400
00:59:42,358 --> 00:59:44,827
made and distributed around the world.
1401
00:59:47,430 --> 00:59:48,798
- [Voiceover] Trenton, New Jersey.
1402
00:59:49,032 --> 00:59:50,667
The state capitol where government is
1403
00:59:50,900 --> 00:59:53,303
big business, but far from the only one.
1404
00:59:53,536 --> 00:59:55,972
Like most cities in this wondrous area,
1405
00:59:56,205 --> 00:59:58,107
Trenton is proud of it's past,
1406
00:59:58,341 --> 01:00:01,077
but prouder yet, of it's future.
1407
01:00:01,311 --> 01:00:03,413
- [Charles] Most people think of the
1408
01:00:03,646 --> 01:00:06,449
United States as going on a boom,
1409
01:00:06,683 --> 01:00:08,685
after World War II.
1410
01:00:08,918 --> 01:00:11,321
And the boom did occur around the country,
1411
01:00:11,554 --> 01:00:14,824
but World War II sort
of is a defining moment
1412
01:00:15,058 --> 01:00:17,961
in Trenton, when we
start to see the decline.
1413
01:00:20,797 --> 01:00:23,766
Decline in the city's population,
1414
01:00:24,000 --> 01:00:26,336
in the city's industry,
people were starting
1415
01:00:26,569 --> 01:00:28,838
to move out of the city into the suburbs,
1416
01:00:29,072 --> 01:00:31,174
people were starting to
move out of the state
1417
01:00:31,407 --> 01:00:33,142
into other places.
1418
01:00:33,376 --> 01:00:35,016
Most of the industry that was in Trenton,
1419
01:00:35,211 --> 01:00:37,213
was sort of mom and pop places.
1420
01:00:37,447 --> 01:00:40,316
Mr. and Mrs. Scammell
owned Scammell Pottery.
1421
01:00:40,550 --> 01:00:43,319
Mr. and Mrs. Roebling and the brothers
1422
01:00:43,553 --> 01:00:45,221
and the sons and everybody else ran
1423
01:00:45,455 --> 01:00:47,123
the Roebling company.
1424
01:00:47,357 --> 01:00:49,325
After World War II we
started creating these
1425
01:00:49,559 --> 01:00:51,661
big corporations that turned into
1426
01:00:51,894 --> 01:00:53,496
these huge conglomerates.
1427
01:00:53,730 --> 01:00:56,566
These companies had no
investment whatsoever
1428
01:00:56,799 --> 01:00:58,501
in the city of Trenton, they were worried
1429
01:00:58,735 --> 01:01:00,069
about the bottom line.
1430
01:01:00,303 --> 01:01:02,405
And it continued, and
continued, and continued,
1431
01:01:02,639 --> 01:01:04,674
until the late 1960's in 1968 when
1432
01:01:04,907 --> 01:01:07,110
the riot occurred in Trenton.
1433
01:01:11,014 --> 01:01:12,734
- [Voiceover] Negro
leaders publicly deplore
1434
01:01:12,949 --> 01:01:14,584
at this looting and violence.
1435
01:01:14,817 --> 01:01:16,586
Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the
1436
01:01:16,819 --> 01:01:18,888
National Association
for the Advancement of
1437
01:01:19,122 --> 01:01:20,823
Colored People.
1438
01:01:21,057 --> 01:01:22,692
- It discourages me, and dismays me,
1439
01:01:22,925 --> 01:01:24,661
and disheartens me is that in the reports
1440
01:01:24,894 --> 01:01:27,764
so far coming in, we
have reports of looting.
1441
01:01:27,997 --> 01:01:32,201
Not anger, not violent outbreaks,
1442
01:01:32,435 --> 01:01:37,306
not an expression of their sorrow
1443
01:01:37,540 --> 01:01:41,177
and resentment at the killing of Dr. King.
1444
01:01:41,411 --> 01:01:44,514
But the utilizing this as an opportunity
1445
01:01:44,747 --> 01:01:47,183
to steal things.
1446
01:01:47,417 --> 01:01:51,454
I think Martin's memory is desecrated by
1447
01:01:51,688 --> 01:01:53,389
this kind of action.
1448
01:01:53,623 --> 01:01:55,258
- The riots in Trenton were broken up
1449
01:01:55,491 --> 01:01:57,193
along racial lines.
1450
01:01:57,427 --> 01:01:59,929
Now, the powder keg of the 1968 riot is
1451
01:02:00,163 --> 01:02:02,198
really fueled by the assassination of
1452
01:02:02,432 --> 01:02:04,534
Martin Luther King.
1453
01:02:04,767 --> 01:02:06,469
King is assassinated, a few days later
1454
01:02:06,703 --> 01:02:08,805
riot breaks out in the city of Trenton,
1455
01:02:09,038 --> 01:02:10,740
one man Harlan Joseph is killed.
1456
01:02:10,973 --> 01:02:12,642
A dozens of police officers, firemen,
1457
01:02:12,875 --> 01:02:15,044
the city is completely burned.
1458
01:02:15,278 --> 01:02:17,547
That was the death of the city.
1459
01:02:23,753 --> 01:02:25,555
State government was taking off,
1460
01:02:25,788 --> 01:02:29,158
so state government was buying up huge
1461
01:02:29,392 --> 01:02:31,060
neighborhoods like Jew Town.
1462
01:02:31,294 --> 01:02:33,429
Bought up the entire neighborhood,
1463
01:02:33,663 --> 01:02:37,333
demolished it, and wanted
to put up urban renewal.
1464
01:02:37,567 --> 01:02:40,470
State buildings, so you get these huge
1465
01:02:40,703 --> 01:02:44,107
state complexes being built surrounded by
1466
01:02:44,340 --> 01:02:46,909
huge parking lots.
1467
01:02:47,143 --> 01:02:49,312
But the people move out after that.
1468
01:02:49,545 --> 01:02:51,647
The people who live here, the people who
1469
01:02:51,881 --> 01:02:54,417
grew up here, who immigrated here,
1470
01:02:54,650 --> 01:02:58,187
who were really invested
in the city of Trenton,
1471
01:02:58,421 --> 01:03:00,923
their confidence was shaken.
1472
01:03:01,157 --> 01:03:03,192
No longer was this a great place to live,
1473
01:03:03,426 --> 01:03:05,928
no longer was this a great place to enjoy
1474
01:03:06,162 --> 01:03:09,132
yourself, this was a place to run from.
1475
01:03:09,365 --> 01:03:12,935
(hip hop music plays)
1476
01:03:16,172 --> 01:03:18,274
- [Doug] None of what I had learned
1477
01:03:18,508 --> 01:03:20,143
explained Calhoun Street.
1478
01:03:20,376 --> 01:03:22,879
Because the story I had heard was that,
1479
01:03:23,112 --> 01:03:25,648
to put it bluntly black
people took over Trenton.
1480
01:03:25,882 --> 01:03:27,950
That's the narrative.
1481
01:03:28,184 --> 01:03:30,219
So this narrative of
black people took over
1482
01:03:30,453 --> 01:03:32,121
Trenton and so we had to move out.
1483
01:03:32,355 --> 01:03:34,056
That's the story that a lot of white
1484
01:03:34,290 --> 01:03:36,893
suburban kids around Trenton grew up with.
1485
01:03:37,126 --> 01:03:38,828
But really that's not the story.
1486
01:03:39,061 --> 01:03:40,830
The story is that these
other opportunities
1487
01:03:41,063 --> 01:03:42,799
became available to some people but not
1488
01:03:43,032 --> 01:03:45,134
to others, and so there
was a large underclass
1489
01:03:45,368 --> 01:03:47,470
that was trapped in Trenton.
1490
01:03:47,703 --> 01:03:49,705
For me, going to City Gardens,
1491
01:03:49,939 --> 01:03:51,641
what it did was it made Trenton
1492
01:03:51,874 --> 01:03:53,910
a place that I had to pay attention to.
1493
01:03:54,143 --> 01:03:55,878
This is a real place, with real people,
1494
01:03:56,112 --> 01:03:59,348
and it's part of real community.
1495
01:04:01,050 --> 01:04:03,986
(fast paced polka music plays)
1496
01:04:04,220 --> 01:04:07,190
- Welcome to the house of Now.
1497
01:04:07,423 --> 01:04:09,525
Ooh, he said "meow" I think.
1498
01:04:09,759 --> 01:04:12,195
This is supposed to be the dining room.
1499
01:04:12,428 --> 01:04:14,664
All CD's on the walls.
1500
01:04:14,897 --> 01:04:17,867
Met John Lennon, in 1975 in Philadelphia,
1501
01:04:18,100 --> 01:04:19,769
but I had a chance to meet him.
1502
01:04:20,002 --> 01:04:21,737
I was drumming in my band and we actually
1503
01:04:21,971 --> 01:04:23,573
did Twist n' Shout.
1504
01:04:23,806 --> 01:04:25,942
This is the basement but I had a whole
1505
01:04:26,175 --> 01:04:27,910
bunch of bobble heads.
1506
01:04:28,144 --> 01:04:29,879
Lot of people collect
baseball bobble heads.
1507
01:04:30,112 --> 01:04:32,682
Actually there's one here
where his head fell off.
1508
01:04:32,915 --> 01:04:35,785
Here's "Have a Jewish Christmas".
1509
01:04:36,018 --> 01:04:38,187
Of course, Pac Man Christmas.
1510
01:04:38,421 --> 01:04:40,890
Everybody needs a Pac Man Christmas album.
1511
01:04:41,123 --> 01:04:42,792
Look at this Christmas in Brazil,
1512
01:04:43,025 --> 01:04:45,127
Santa Claus of the top of that car there.
1513
01:04:45,361 --> 01:04:47,396
This is a really rare Skatalites album.
1514
01:04:47,630 --> 01:04:49,699
When I tour managed the Skatalites.
1515
01:04:49,932 --> 01:04:51,601
Skavoovie.
1516
01:04:51,834 --> 01:04:53,536
Most of the guys were still alive then,
1517
01:04:53,769 --> 01:04:55,538
they're all dead now I believe.
1518
01:04:55,771 --> 01:04:57,273
Christmas with the Colonel Sanders,
1519
01:04:57,506 --> 01:04:59,242
there's a couple of them.
1520
01:04:59,475 --> 01:05:01,544
Here's a Desmond Decker
album from the '60's.
1521
01:05:01,777 --> 01:05:04,714
Fitness records, burlesque records.
1522
01:05:04,947 --> 01:05:06,716
How to belly dance for your husband,
1523
01:05:06,949 --> 01:05:08,651
How to strip for your husband.
1524
01:05:08,885 --> 01:05:10,586
Easy instructions.
1525
01:05:10,820 --> 01:05:12,555
Stop smoking on vinyl.
1526
01:05:12,788 --> 01:05:14,423
Yeah that's really gonna work.
1527
01:05:14,657 --> 01:05:16,325
Maternity to Motherhood, common sense
1528
01:05:16,559 --> 01:05:17,919
guide to pregnancy and childbirth.
1529
01:05:18,127 --> 01:05:20,263
Why did I buy this?
1530
01:05:20,496 --> 01:05:21,764
What did I pay for it?
1531
01:05:21,998 --> 01:05:23,666
Did I pay a dollar?
1532
01:05:23,900 --> 01:05:25,568
Sitar, these are all records with
1533
01:05:25,801 --> 01:05:27,603
sitars on 'em.
1534
01:05:27,837 --> 01:05:30,673
This is the funny, it's a great section.
1535
01:05:30,907 --> 01:05:32,675
Cajun Truckers Rock-a-billy.
1536
01:05:32,909 --> 01:05:34,677
Sousa and Circus.
1537
01:05:34,911 --> 01:05:36,779
Kinda went hand and hand I though.
1538
01:05:37,013 --> 01:05:38,853
- [Mike] A lot of the
original punks in general
1539
01:05:38,915 --> 01:05:40,650
were real characters.
1540
01:05:40,883 --> 01:05:42,461
They were real natural
entertainers or weirdos.
1541
01:05:42,485 --> 01:05:44,287
Creative weirdos, not like the people
1542
01:05:44,520 --> 01:05:46,000
you try to avoid when you come across
1543
01:05:46,055 --> 01:05:47,790
them in the street.
1544
01:05:48,024 --> 01:05:49,792
And so the vibe was always fun.
1545
01:05:50,026 --> 01:05:51,536
The creative weirdo is the guy who always
1546
01:05:51,560 --> 01:05:53,763
livens up the dull party if you go to one.
1547
01:05:53,996 --> 01:05:55,765
The guy with the lampshade on his head.
1548
01:05:55,998 --> 01:05:57,800
- For young and old,
Ex-Lax, the chocolate,
1549
01:05:58,034 --> 01:06:00,202
chocolated laxative.
1550
01:06:00,436 --> 01:06:02,505
There's a word you don't use too often
1551
01:06:02,738 --> 01:06:04,974
in the English language, a choc...
1552
01:06:05,207 --> 01:06:06,943
Choc-o-lated?
1553
01:06:07,176 --> 01:06:09,011
What do you think?
1554
01:06:09,245 --> 01:06:10,565
- Often very big people, ya know,
1555
01:06:10,746 --> 01:06:12,548
kind of physically imposing and don't
1556
01:06:12,782 --> 01:06:14,050
care what you think about 'em.
1557
01:06:14,283 --> 01:06:16,018
What are you gonna do?
1558
01:06:16,252 --> 01:06:17,252
Punch him?
1559
01:06:17,286 --> 01:06:19,006
You don't like what
they're doin', you know.
1560
01:06:19,188 --> 01:06:20,957
Randy was kind of an imposing character.
1561
01:06:21,190 --> 01:06:23,326
(cheering)
1562
01:06:24,527 --> 01:06:27,797
(🎜 The Meatmen -'Mr.
Tapeworm' music plays 🎜)
1563
01:06:41,410 --> 01:06:43,546
- I take my son to shows now and he won't
1564
01:06:43,779 --> 01:06:46,015
go anywhere near the front of the stage.
1565
01:06:46,248 --> 01:06:48,417
And I'm like, it's weird
because I'm pulling
1566
01:06:48,651 --> 01:06:50,386
him to the front of the stage and he
1567
01:06:50,619 --> 01:06:52,321
doesn't want anything to do with it.
1568
01:06:52,555 --> 01:06:54,323
So yeah, I can understand how people
1569
01:06:54,557 --> 01:06:56,325
were scared, and actually I do remember
1570
01:06:56,559 --> 01:06:58,260
a time when I was scared is
1571
01:06:58,494 --> 01:07:00,196
The Butthole Surfers show.
1572
01:07:00,429 --> 01:07:02,531
Because he was trying to light us on fire.
1573
01:07:02,765 --> 01:07:04,500
(laughs) So, that's the only time
1574
01:07:04,734 --> 01:07:06,535
I was scared.
1575
01:07:06,769 --> 01:07:08,689
(🎜 Butthole Surfers
-'Too Parter' music plays 🎜)
1576
01:07:10,406 --> 01:07:12,174
- [Mickey] They were
probably the best live
1577
01:07:12,408 --> 01:07:14,110
band in the world for maybe like 10
1578
01:07:14,343 --> 01:07:17,179
or 12 years, at least.
1579
01:07:29,025 --> 01:07:30,860
- We'd been listening
to the Buttholes a lot
1580
01:07:31,093 --> 01:07:32,895
actually, and to us we
imagined them as not
1581
01:07:33,129 --> 01:07:35,264
even human beings we
thought they were just
1582
01:07:35,498 --> 01:07:38,067
psychopaths like five or six psychopaths
1583
01:07:38,300 --> 01:07:40,436
that just did acid all the time.
1584
01:07:40,669 --> 01:07:42,805
Which really wasn't that far from
1585
01:07:43,039 --> 01:07:45,508
the truth actually.
1586
01:07:51,414 --> 01:07:53,254
To look at them, they
were the weirdest looking
1587
01:07:53,382 --> 01:07:55,151
band in the whole fuckin' world.
1588
01:07:55,384 --> 01:07:58,487
Gibby had that long
stringy hair and there was
1589
01:07:58,721 --> 01:08:02,158
shit stuck in it, like
clothes pins and dolls
1590
01:08:02,391 --> 01:08:05,127
hangin' out of it and whatever, trash.
1591
01:08:05,361 --> 01:08:07,830
When they came on it
was like being in hell.
1592
01:08:08,064 --> 01:08:10,900
It was like literally being in hell.
1593
01:08:11,133 --> 01:08:15,004
It was like, specifically
designed to fuck with you.
1594
01:08:15,237 --> 01:08:17,473
- There was a time when
City Gardens couldn't
1595
01:08:17,706 --> 01:08:19,408
do all age shows.
1596
01:08:22,645 --> 01:08:24,847
- [Johnny] During the course
of City Garden's life,
1597
01:08:25,081 --> 01:08:26,816
the drinking age changed.
1598
01:08:27,049 --> 01:08:28,784
And when the drinking age changed
1599
01:08:29,018 --> 01:08:30,786
the shows changed a lot.
1600
01:08:31,020 --> 01:08:33,255
- Then it was like, 19 then it was 20
1601
01:08:33,489 --> 01:08:35,257
to drink and get in.
1602
01:08:35,491 --> 01:08:37,259
They wouldn't let all ages in.
1603
01:08:37,493 --> 01:08:38,794
(whistle)
1604
01:08:39,028 --> 01:08:40,796
- Hello, skinhead, are you hungry?
1605
01:08:41,030 --> 01:08:42,865
Looking for a City Gardens treat?
1606
01:08:43,099 --> 01:08:45,701
Well hold on 'til I absorb some heat.
1607
01:08:45,935 --> 01:08:48,704
Some added tang might please you too.
1608
01:08:48,938 --> 01:08:51,140
I'll slide into a stale bun,
1609
01:08:51,373 --> 01:08:53,642
and I'm ready for your eating fun.
1610
01:08:53,876 --> 01:08:55,596
- And then I almost got
a restaurant license
1611
01:08:55,778 --> 01:08:58,781
literally by having a
hot dog maker machine,
1612
01:08:59,014 --> 01:09:00,850
fattening the building become a restaurant
1613
01:09:01,083 --> 01:09:02,818
where it could open up to all ages.
1614
01:09:04,153 --> 01:09:05,721
- [Randy] I knew they had nude dance,
1615
01:09:05,955 --> 01:09:08,124
topless dancer, I knew that and I said,
1616
01:09:08,357 --> 01:09:09,637
"Look, this is an all ages show.
1617
01:09:09,725 --> 01:09:11,360
"Can you do me a favor and not have
1618
01:09:11,594 --> 01:09:12,828
"the nude dancer on stage?"
1619
01:09:13,062 --> 01:09:14,372
He was like, "Well yeah we won't do it,
1620
01:09:14,396 --> 01:09:15,707
"but you know, there's gonna be a screen
1621
01:09:15,731 --> 01:09:19,001
"of like these Signal 30 films
1622
01:09:19,235 --> 01:09:21,070
"of car accidents and people's bodies
1623
01:09:21,303 --> 01:09:23,305
"all burned in car wrecks playing
1624
01:09:23,539 --> 01:09:25,099
"in the background, the projector going
1625
01:09:25,274 --> 01:09:26,475
"through her figure."
1626
01:09:26,709 --> 01:09:27,877
"okay we won't do it."
1627
01:09:28,110 --> 01:09:30,479
First fuckin' song her
fuckin' top comes off.
1628
01:09:32,882 --> 01:09:34,722
- [Scott] This was the
first time that actually
1629
01:09:34,884 --> 01:09:37,219
got like, a majority of people from our
1630
01:09:37,453 --> 01:09:38,821
high school to come out.
1631
01:09:39,054 --> 01:09:40,694
So they came out to see Ween and that was
1632
01:09:40,890 --> 01:09:42,300
a good show and that was a lot of fun.
1633
01:09:42,324 --> 01:09:43,884
And then the Butthole Surfers comes on,
1634
01:09:43,993 --> 01:09:45,833
and all of our high school
friends are watching
1635
01:09:45,928 --> 01:09:47,196
this naked girl go-go dance.
1636
01:09:47,429 --> 01:09:49,565
You gotta remember, these are preppy
1637
01:09:49,798 --> 01:09:50,798
high school kids.
1638
01:09:51,000 --> 01:09:52,444
- [Mickey] When you saw
them you got a sense
1639
01:09:52,468 --> 01:09:54,737
that anything was possible,
that anything could
1640
01:09:54,970 --> 01:09:56,705
happen, everything was in play,
1641
01:09:56,939 --> 01:09:58,207
somebody could get killed.
1642
01:09:58,440 --> 01:10:01,577
Ya know, you were gonna
see them fuck on stage.
1643
01:10:01,810 --> 01:10:02,988
- [Randy] I had worked
with them so many times
1644
01:10:03,012 --> 01:10:04,656
I had no problem with
them, and then that night
1645
01:10:04,680 --> 01:10:06,882
just like, all hell broke loose.
1646
01:10:07,116 --> 01:10:08,593
- [Mickey] Gibby would
set his arms on fire
1647
01:10:08,617 --> 01:10:10,386
with rubbing alcohol, and it was just
1648
01:10:10,619 --> 01:10:11,619
so much to look at.
1649
01:10:11,787 --> 01:10:13,298
- [Randy] The lighter fluid on the symbol
1650
01:10:13,322 --> 01:10:14,890
and lighting them and Gibby striking
1651
01:10:15,124 --> 01:10:16,124
it with a mallet.
1652
01:10:16,192 --> 01:10:17,860
(wooshing sound)
1653
01:10:21,730 --> 01:10:23,108
- [Randy] You fuck with the Buttholes
1654
01:10:23,132 --> 01:10:24,767
and they're not gonna back down.
1655
01:10:25,000 --> 01:10:26,478
- Flames were shootin'
up into the ceiling.
1656
01:10:26,502 --> 01:10:27,946
- It would go up, it
would hit the ceiling
1657
01:10:27,970 --> 01:10:29,281
and then it would go horizontal like,
1658
01:10:29,305 --> 01:10:30,439
creep across.
1659
01:10:30,673 --> 01:10:32,641
And City Gardens had
all the wiring exposed
1660
01:10:32,875 --> 01:10:34,276
and insulation hanging down.
1661
01:10:34,510 --> 01:10:35,945
You could see the ends curl up,
1662
01:10:36,178 --> 01:10:37,446
and burn up, and sizzle.
1663
01:10:37,680 --> 01:10:39,120
It would like, have red coals on it.
1664
01:10:39,348 --> 01:10:41,050
It was like, "Fuck, these guys are gonna
1665
01:10:41,283 --> 01:10:42,643
"burn this club down to the grown.
1666
01:10:42,818 --> 01:10:44,620
"1,200 people are gonna die and it's
1667
01:10:44,853 --> 01:10:46,889
"gonna be amazing, ya know. No one's gonna
1668
01:10:47,122 --> 01:10:48,757
"move when it happens."
1669
01:10:50,159 --> 01:10:51,670
- [Randy] I think that's
what started it all
1670
01:10:51,694 --> 01:10:53,829
because we're afraid of fire.
1671
01:10:54,063 --> 01:10:56,932
- And I think he wasn't
expecting it to do that.
1672
01:10:57,166 --> 01:10:58,601
Because the look on his face was,
1673
01:10:58,834 --> 01:10:59,834
"Holy shit."
1674
01:11:00,035 --> 01:11:01,379
- [Jon Stewart] For some
reason so many of us
1675
01:11:01,403 --> 01:11:02,714
thought it was a good
idea to incorporate fire
1676
01:11:02,738 --> 01:11:05,074
into their show, one of the upper curtains
1677
01:11:05,307 --> 01:11:06,609
caught on fire.
1678
01:11:06,842 --> 01:11:08,282
Yeah they were for some reason there
1679
01:11:08,344 --> 01:11:09,864
was like a pyromaniac thing with them.
1680
01:11:10,012 --> 01:11:11,914
- And he just kept drumming and playing,
1681
01:11:12,147 --> 01:11:14,450
and he had a bullhorn
so that was very loud.
1682
01:11:14,683 --> 01:11:15,784
As loud as the PA.
1683
01:11:16,018 --> 01:11:17,753
- [Don] Gibby turned
the cymbal upside down
1684
01:11:17,987 --> 01:11:19,627
and started hitting it and flames started
1685
01:11:19,755 --> 01:11:21,395
shooting in the air, and Tut was standing
1686
01:11:21,423 --> 01:11:23,659
next to me and he went running off like,
1687
01:11:23,892 --> 01:11:25,861
"That's it!" (laughs)
1688
01:11:26,095 --> 01:11:27,096
"None of that!"
1689
01:11:27,329 --> 01:11:29,798
- Frank, came to a couple of us
1690
01:11:30,032 --> 01:11:31,267
and told us to go stop it.
1691
01:11:33,135 --> 01:11:34,679
- So I took a picture of beer and I just
1692
01:11:34,703 --> 01:11:36,238
poured it on the cymbal.
1693
01:11:38,507 --> 01:11:40,187
I remember Gibby looking
at me, and he took
1694
01:11:40,409 --> 01:11:41,886
the bottle of alcohol, walked towards me
1695
01:11:41,910 --> 01:11:44,713
Threw it on my shirt and
just totally doused me.
1696
01:11:45,547 --> 01:11:48,150
He lit the lighter, and
was walking towards me
1697
01:11:48,384 --> 01:11:49,985
with this psycho look in his eyes.
1698
01:11:50,219 --> 01:11:52,288
And I was coming back ready to hit him,
1699
01:11:52,521 --> 01:11:55,157
and he turned around and he looked at me,
1700
01:11:55,391 --> 01:11:57,693
he put his hand out so
I just shook his hand
1701
01:11:57,926 --> 01:11:59,046
I wasn't gonna hit him then.
1702
01:11:59,128 --> 01:12:00,863
- [Scott] Toward the
end when they wanted to
1703
01:12:01,096 --> 01:12:03,198
close the club, the band wouldn't leave.
1704
01:12:03,432 --> 01:12:05,076
- [Randy] We pulled the
power I guess somewhere.
1705
01:12:05,100 --> 01:12:07,169
It had to be an hour and a half into
1706
01:12:07,403 --> 01:12:08,837
the show though.
1707
01:12:16,812 --> 01:12:18,380
- Black Flag played there many times,
1708
01:12:18,614 --> 01:12:20,182
Rollins band played there many times.
1709
01:12:20,416 --> 01:12:22,685
And when I would be living around here
1710
01:12:23,485 --> 01:12:24,987
we'd go see shows there.
1711
01:12:25,220 --> 01:12:27,656
So we'd see the Bad
Brains, The Pixies, Ween.
1712
01:12:27,890 --> 01:12:29,024
- They booked everything.
1713
01:12:29,258 --> 01:12:30,392
Sinead O'Connor.
1714
01:12:30,626 --> 01:12:32,061
- It was her very first show ever
1715
01:12:32,294 --> 01:12:33,395
in the United States.
1716
01:12:33,629 --> 01:12:34,730
- UB40.
1717
01:12:34,963 --> 01:12:35,963
- Jane's Addiction.
1718
01:12:36,131 --> 01:12:37,242
- Geeze, I seen The Wailers there
1719
01:12:37,266 --> 01:12:38,786
a ton of times, that was always great.
1720
01:12:38,934 --> 01:12:43,205
- Husker Du, Dickies,
Ramones, Violent Femmes.
1721
01:12:43,439 --> 01:12:44,840
- Green Day played there?
1722
01:12:45,074 --> 01:12:46,375
Ya know, Nirvana played there?
1723
01:12:46,608 --> 01:12:49,611
I gotta go on YouTube to remember that
1724
01:12:49,845 --> 01:12:50,879
Nirvana played there.
1725
01:12:51,113 --> 01:12:54,183
- De La Soul was like,
the crowing, you know,
1726
01:12:54,416 --> 01:12:56,051
that was like the crown jewel show.
1727
01:12:56,285 --> 01:12:58,454
- Circle Jerks were always great.
1728
01:12:59,054 --> 01:13:00,756
Bad Brains were always amazing,
1729
01:13:00,989 --> 01:13:02,829
one of the loudest bands
I've ever worked with.
1730
01:13:02,958 --> 01:13:04,793
- Like, I saw Ministry there.
1731
01:13:05,027 --> 01:13:07,062
When Ministry was new wave.
1732
01:13:07,296 --> 01:13:09,031
I have pictures, great pictures,
1733
01:13:09,264 --> 01:13:11,867
Al Jourgensen dressed
pretty much like a girl.
1734
01:13:12,101 --> 01:13:13,741
- I would go see anything at City Gardens
1735
01:13:13,869 --> 01:13:15,347
for a while because I knew it was gonna be
1736
01:13:15,371 --> 01:13:17,272
completely outside the
realm of the hair metal
1737
01:13:17,506 --> 01:13:19,274
or the crappy dance music that popular
1738
01:13:19,508 --> 01:13:21,910
with the kids of my school
that I didn't relate to.
1739
01:13:22,144 --> 01:13:24,947
- Voivod, Faith No More, Soundgarden show.
1740
01:13:25,180 --> 01:13:26,949
And Voivod was actually the headliner.
1741
01:13:27,182 --> 01:13:29,585
- GWAR shows. (laughs)
1742
01:13:29,952 --> 01:13:32,054
GWAR shows, where on
Earth did that come from
1743
01:13:32,287 --> 01:13:33,389
and how cool is GWAR?
1744
01:13:33,622 --> 01:13:34,662
- Shit, the Chili Peppers.
1745
01:13:34,857 --> 01:13:36,725
Ya know it's real easy to laugh now
1746
01:13:36,959 --> 01:13:38,460
about the Chili Peppers and say like,
1747
01:13:38,694 --> 01:13:41,330
"Oh, but that band was the best."
1748
01:13:41,563 --> 01:13:43,298
And they were like, the first to do it
1749
01:13:43,532 --> 01:13:45,092
and that was everybody's favorite band.
1750
01:13:45,234 --> 01:13:48,570
And this is before hits
and radio and success
1751
01:13:48,804 --> 01:13:50,315
and whatever, they were playing places
1752
01:13:50,339 --> 01:13:52,141
like City Garden, and
they played there a lot.
1753
01:13:52,374 --> 01:13:54,009
- It made all the difference to music
1754
01:13:54,243 --> 01:13:56,412
in New Jersey, I mean, if it wasn't there
1755
01:13:56,645 --> 01:13:58,013
you'd be going to Philadelphia,
1756
01:13:58,247 --> 01:14:00,215
you'd be going to CB's.
1757
01:14:01,183 --> 01:14:02,851
It was really important.
1758
01:14:05,120 --> 01:14:06,355
It was really important.
1759
01:14:06,588 --> 01:14:08,457
- [Dave] (muffled) for me homie.
1760
01:14:08,690 --> 01:14:09,958
Lou Koller, come on.
1761
01:14:10,192 --> 01:14:11,192
Tim Shaw?
1762
01:14:11,226 --> 01:14:12,428
What's up?
1763
01:14:14,496 --> 01:14:19,468
(🎜 Vision - 'Falling Apart' music plays 🎜)
1764
01:14:29,211 --> 01:14:33,048
🎜 Never thought of the consequences
You never thought at all 🎜
1765
01:14:33,282 --> 01:14:38,287
🎜 Never thought you'd be the one
To ever take a fall 🎜
1766
01:14:41,790 --> 01:14:43,792
- Randy Now called my mom's house phone,
1767
01:14:44,026 --> 01:14:46,995
ya know, cause I was in high school still.
1768
01:14:47,229 --> 01:14:49,698
And he said, "Hey, it's Randy.
1769
01:14:49,932 --> 01:14:51,172
"Would you guys like to open up
1770
01:14:51,300 --> 01:14:53,001
"for The Exploited?", and I was like,
1771
01:14:53,235 --> 01:14:54,503
"Fuck yeah!"
1772
01:14:55,604 --> 01:14:58,207
(🎜 The Scandals - 'Four
Seventeen' music plays 🎜)
1773
01:14:58,707 --> 01:15:00,118
- [Bryan] That Exploited show for sure
1774
01:15:00,142 --> 01:15:01,677
goes down in infamy.
1775
01:15:03,979 --> 01:15:05,056
- [Peter] The
first time that I played
1776
01:15:05,080 --> 01:15:07,015
at City Gardens, my band's called Vision.
1777
01:15:08,417 --> 01:15:10,586
(🎜 Vision - 'No Mistake' music plays 🎜)
1778
01:15:13,822 --> 01:15:15,233
We had a show there in early January
1779
01:15:15,257 --> 01:15:18,126
in 1987 and we were booked to open a show
1780
01:15:18,393 --> 01:15:21,830
that included headliners The Exploited,
1781
01:15:22,064 --> 01:15:23,765
and supporting them, The Pagan Babies,
1782
01:15:23,999 --> 01:15:25,267
and The Uprise.
1783
01:15:25,501 --> 01:15:30,973
(🎜 Bouncing Souls -
'Baptized' music plays 🎜)
1784
01:15:38,580 --> 01:15:39,991
- The guy that played bass in my band
1785
01:15:40,015 --> 01:15:42,351
at the time, was banned from the club
1786
01:15:42,584 --> 01:15:43,986
for beating people up.
1787
01:15:47,389 --> 01:15:49,858
The night of the show
1788
01:15:50,092 --> 01:15:52,027
we went there and I
went there with so much
1789
01:15:52,261 --> 01:15:54,730
anxiety, 'cause I knew
that I was gonna have
1790
01:15:54,963 --> 01:15:57,032
to talk to Randy and be like,
1791
01:15:57,266 --> 01:15:59,635
"This is my bass player, but he's banned
1792
01:15:59,868 --> 01:16:02,070
"from the club for fightin' people."
1793
01:16:02,304 --> 01:16:04,306
- [Randy] I know he was barred I guess.
1794
01:16:04,540 --> 01:16:05,860
If you get barred you had to have
1795
01:16:06,041 --> 01:16:08,110
done something stupid.
1796
01:16:08,343 --> 01:16:10,379
We just didn't say, "Hey, kick that guy
1797
01:16:10,612 --> 01:16:12,447
"out because he's a nice guy", ya know.
1798
01:16:12,681 --> 01:16:13,949
And I wasn't kickin' 'em out,
1799
01:16:14,182 --> 01:16:15,182
it was security guards.
1800
01:16:15,284 --> 01:16:16,361
They would tell me and then I'd say,
1801
01:16:16,385 --> 01:16:17,052
"You gotta stay out."
1802
01:16:17,286 --> 01:16:18,754
- Randy did not know that he was
1803
01:16:18,987 --> 01:16:21,089
playing in our band until we showed up
1804
01:16:21,323 --> 01:16:22,323
at that time.
1805
01:16:22,391 --> 01:16:23,659
- We walked through the club.
1806
01:16:23,892 --> 01:16:25,292
They had no idea I was in the band,
1807
01:16:25,327 --> 01:16:26,887
and we knew something was gonna happen.
1808
01:16:26,995 --> 01:16:30,232
We knew that we were walking into this...
1809
01:16:30,465 --> 01:16:32,467
It would erupt at some point.
1810
01:16:32,701 --> 01:16:34,603
- [Peter] As the words left Dave's mouth
1811
01:16:34,836 --> 01:16:36,138
Randy lost his mind.
1812
01:16:36,371 --> 01:16:37,806
- Ah, what the fuck?
1813
01:16:38,040 --> 01:16:39,284
- [Peter] "What's he doin' here?
1814
01:16:39,308 --> 01:16:40,909
"Blah blah blah", he's freakin' out.
1815
01:16:41,143 --> 01:16:43,779
- [Dave] Randy screamed at me.
1816
01:16:44,012 --> 01:16:46,081
He screamed at me so loud he was
1817
01:16:46,315 --> 01:16:47,783
spitting in my face.
1818
01:16:48,016 --> 01:16:49,585
I don't even think my mother and father
1819
01:16:49,818 --> 01:16:51,920
ever yelled at me the way that he
1820
01:16:52,154 --> 01:16:53,322
yelled at me that night.
1821
01:16:53,555 --> 01:16:54,632
- "How could you do this to me?
1822
01:16:54,656 --> 01:16:55,800
"You fucked us, you screwed me.
1823
01:16:55,824 --> 01:16:57,259
"What the fuck were you thinking?"
1824
01:16:57,492 --> 01:16:59,094
(uptempo music plays)
1825
01:16:59,328 --> 01:17:00,528
- [Dave] I said, "Listen man."
1826
01:17:00,729 --> 01:17:02,364
(laughs) I said, "I can't help the fact
1827
01:17:02,598 --> 01:17:04,366
"that the guy's in my band, ya know.
1828
01:17:04,600 --> 01:17:09,071
"But we wanna play the show regardless."
1829
01:17:10,305 --> 01:17:11,773
He goes, "Fuck you!".
1830
01:17:12,007 --> 01:17:13,475
(laughs) He was like, "Fuck you,
1831
01:17:13,709 --> 01:17:15,377
"you fucked me!"
1832
01:17:17,446 --> 01:17:18,890
Before that, Vision had only played like
1833
01:17:18,914 --> 01:17:22,117
basements and a couple
little odds and ins shows.
1834
01:17:22,351 --> 01:17:23,728
This is our biggest
break, we're gonna play
1835
01:17:23,752 --> 01:17:25,687
in front of 1,100 people opening
1836
01:17:25,921 --> 01:17:27,289
up for The Exploited.
1837
01:17:27,522 --> 01:17:28,733
- "You're gone. You can't play."
1838
01:17:28,757 --> 01:17:30,101
- "Absolutely not gonna fuckin' play here.
1839
01:17:30,125 --> 01:17:31,393
"Get the fuck out."
1840
01:17:37,065 --> 01:17:39,067
- [Dave] Wattie from The Exploited
1841
01:17:39,301 --> 01:17:41,136
comes walkin' over with his manager
1842
01:17:41,370 --> 01:17:42,804
and he says, "What's the problem?",
1843
01:17:43,038 --> 01:17:44,718
and I say, "We're not
gonna be able to play
1844
01:17:44,906 --> 01:17:46,066
"because my bass player's not
1845
01:17:46,274 --> 01:17:48,010
"allowed in the venue."
1846
01:17:48,243 --> 01:17:51,580
And he goes, "Did you
come from a far distance?"
1847
01:17:51,813 --> 01:17:54,016
And I go, "Not as far as you." (laughs)
1848
01:17:54,249 --> 01:17:56,151
"40 minutes away" and he goes, "That's
1849
01:17:56,385 --> 01:17:58,587
"far enough", and he
walked to Randy and goes,
1850
01:17:58,820 --> 01:18:00,340
"If Vision doesn't play, The Exploited
1851
01:18:00,555 --> 01:18:01,555
"don't play."
1852
01:18:01,623 --> 01:18:03,063
The Uprise did the exact same thing,
1853
01:18:03,225 --> 01:18:05,394
The Pagan Babies did the exact same thing.
1854
01:18:05,627 --> 01:18:08,196
- Almost everybody in every band...
1855
01:18:08,430 --> 01:18:09,865
around Randy.
1856
01:18:10,098 --> 01:18:13,235
Like one guy, and twenty people around him
1857
01:18:13,468 --> 01:18:15,771
just hassling him, "Come on, let us play,
1858
01:18:16,004 --> 01:18:17,305
"let him play, let him play."
1859
01:18:18,907 --> 01:18:21,043
- [Randy] Obviously he
had power over me to say,
1860
01:18:21,276 --> 01:18:23,945
"If they don't play we don't play."
1861
01:18:25,280 --> 01:18:26,800
- But I think he had to go talk to Tut
1862
01:18:26,848 --> 01:18:29,217
because the man behind
the curtain, ya know,
1863
01:18:29,451 --> 01:18:32,120
he was the guy, he was the guy who
1864
01:18:32,354 --> 01:18:34,189
probably hated me.
1865
01:18:34,423 --> 01:18:36,058
I don't think Randy really hated me,
1866
01:18:36,291 --> 01:18:38,427
he just had the duty to
keep throwing me out.
1867
01:18:38,660 --> 01:18:40,762
- So we ended up getting to play the show,
1868
01:18:40,996 --> 01:18:43,098
we compromised with Randy and said,
1869
01:18:43,331 --> 01:18:45,901
"We'll play, and then Chris will leave."
1870
01:18:46,401 --> 01:18:48,637
(🎜 The Exploited - 'Y.O.P.' music plays 🎜)
1871
01:18:48,870 --> 01:18:50,510
- [Randy] I don't know what date in like,
1872
01:18:50,539 --> 01:18:51,540
punk rock history,
1873
01:18:51,773 --> 01:18:55,777
one day I would promote bands and I would
1874
01:18:56,011 --> 01:18:57,691
have to say, "From England" to make people
1875
01:18:57,879 --> 01:18:59,047
come see them.
1876
01:18:59,281 --> 01:19:01,081
You know, and including
early Exploited shows,
1877
01:19:01,283 --> 01:19:02,483
"From England, The Exploited."
1878
01:19:02,651 --> 01:19:03,652
That brought people out.
1879
01:19:03,885 --> 01:19:05,163
And all of a sudden one day it was like
1880
01:19:05,187 --> 01:19:07,122
opposite, you put "from
England, The Exploited",
1881
01:19:07,355 --> 01:19:09,658
and people were like, against a band.
1882
01:19:09,891 --> 01:19:11,291
- [Dan] We
watched Vision, you know,
1883
01:19:11,460 --> 01:19:13,462
then we get up and did our thing.
1884
01:19:13,695 --> 01:19:16,231
I remember being done,
and getting our gear off
1885
01:19:16,465 --> 01:19:18,567
stage, we were all like,
"Yay. We just played,
1886
01:19:18,800 --> 01:19:19,835
"that's so cool."
1887
01:19:20,068 --> 01:19:22,471
And then we were up in that perch
1888
01:19:22,704 --> 01:19:24,539
on side of the stage.
1889
01:19:25,140 --> 01:19:26,284
- [Tim] It turned
out that that they
1890
01:19:26,308 --> 01:19:27,609
didn't have a merch guy.
1891
01:19:27,843 --> 01:19:31,146
So, Randy looks to us and says,
1892
01:19:31,379 --> 01:19:32,790
"Hey, would you guys be interested in
1893
01:19:32,814 --> 01:19:34,416
"doing the merch for Exploited?",
1894
01:19:34,649 --> 01:19:36,585
he's like, "You know, I'll kick back
1895
01:19:36,818 --> 01:19:38,520
"a little money for ya, ya know."
1896
01:19:38,754 --> 01:19:40,255
And we were like, "Sure. Cool."
1897
01:19:40,489 --> 01:19:41,923
Ya know, "Whatever, yeah yeah."
1898
01:19:42,157 --> 01:19:44,493
- Chris had to go after
we were done playing,
1899
01:19:44,726 --> 01:19:45,961
he had to leave.
1900
01:19:46,194 --> 01:19:48,463
I got elected to take him home. (laughs)
1901
01:19:49,331 --> 01:19:51,466
Best part about that is, after we get done
1902
01:19:51,700 --> 01:19:54,369
playin', load everything up into my car,
1903
01:19:54,603 --> 01:19:58,607
leave, Chris, "Oh I forgot a bag."
1904
01:19:58,840 --> 01:20:00,609
- Then The Exploited play.
1905
01:20:00,842 --> 01:20:04,212
And they have the record out that has
1906
01:20:04,446 --> 01:20:06,181
"Fuck the USA" on it.
1907
01:20:06,414 --> 01:20:08,383
- Back at that time, you know, '87, '88,
1908
01:20:08,617 --> 01:20:10,819
there was just so many
skinheads, so many like,
1909
01:20:11,052 --> 01:20:13,021
white power skinheads back then.
1910
01:20:13,255 --> 01:20:15,557
- And the place goes ballistic.
1911
01:20:15,791 --> 01:20:16,992
- The skinheads kinda like,
1912
01:20:17,225 --> 01:20:19,995
took offense to a lot of Exploited stuff.
1913
01:20:20,228 --> 01:20:22,364
I don't understand why
they paid to get in,
1914
01:20:22,597 --> 01:20:24,866
but maybe they paid to get to try to
1915
01:20:25,100 --> 01:20:26,468
abuse The Exploited, right.
1916
01:20:26,701 --> 01:20:27,335
- [Bryan] One of the members,
1917
01:20:27,569 --> 01:20:29,046
and I can't remember,
I think it was the bass
1918
01:20:29,070 --> 01:20:31,239
player, the littler guy in The Exploited,
1919
01:20:31,473 --> 01:20:34,576
actually got, they tried
to pull him into the crowd.
1920
01:20:34,810 --> 01:20:36,287
Like, actually got pulled by his feet
1921
01:20:36,311 --> 01:20:37,345
off the stage.
1922
01:20:37,879 --> 01:20:39,848
- [Tim] Holy shit are we gonna now
1923
01:20:40,081 --> 01:20:41,361
be involved in this 'cause we're
1924
01:20:41,483 --> 01:20:42,050
sellin' their merch?
1925
01:20:42,284 --> 01:20:43,804
Are skinheads gonna come back here and
1926
01:20:43,885 --> 01:20:45,387
beat the shit out of our little 13,
1927
01:20:45,620 --> 01:20:47,022
14-year-old asses? (laughs)
1928
01:20:47,255 --> 01:20:48,633
- [Peter] To see Wattie right in the faces
1929
01:20:48,657 --> 01:20:49,897
of the people in the front row,
1930
01:20:49,958 --> 01:20:52,594
with probably dozens of gabs of spit
1931
01:20:52,828 --> 01:20:53,829
in his Mohawk.
1932
01:20:54,062 --> 01:20:56,998
- [Randy] Remember actually,
these big, of course
1933
01:20:57,232 --> 01:20:59,367
every fuckin' bad skinhead was like,
1934
01:20:59,601 --> 01:21:01,570
six foot, like Frankenstein six foot ten,
1935
01:21:01,803 --> 01:21:02,803
300 pounds.
1936
01:21:02,938 --> 01:21:04,138
I can remember goin' up there,
1937
01:21:04,172 --> 01:21:06,908
little, fat, dumpy me,
20 years older than them
1938
01:21:07,142 --> 01:21:09,077
sayin', "I don't care if you spit on 'em,
1939
01:21:09,311 --> 01:21:10,812
"just don't touch 'em."
1940
01:21:11,680 --> 01:21:13,949
- [Matt] Turn around,
drive all the way back.
1941
01:21:14,182 --> 01:21:16,351
He can't go in the club
'cause he's not allowed
1942
01:21:16,585 --> 01:21:18,553
in the club, so I have to go get his bag.
1943
01:21:18,787 --> 01:21:20,455
And I was almost jaw-dropped, ya know,
1944
01:21:20,689 --> 01:21:22,858
walkin' back in just to see treatment
1945
01:21:23,091 --> 01:21:24,331
that The Exploited was getting.
1946
01:21:24,492 --> 01:21:25,894
I just couldn't believe it.
1947
01:21:29,231 --> 01:21:31,266
- (laughs) And that was just brutal.
1948
01:21:31,499 --> 01:21:34,536
Just so much violence at an Exploited show
1949
01:21:34,769 --> 01:21:36,605
that I just couldn't believe it.
1950
01:21:36,838 --> 01:21:38,015
And I'm kinda like goin', "Wow.
1951
01:21:38,039 --> 01:21:39,708
"I'm gonna stand over to the side
1952
01:21:39,941 --> 01:21:40,976
"I'm a little kid."
1953
01:21:41,409 --> 01:21:42,587
- [Larry] (laughs)
And he's sittin' here
1954
01:21:42,611 --> 01:21:43,754
spittin' at the crowd, you know, they're
1955
01:21:43,778 --> 01:21:44,856
goin' back and forth, then somebody had
1956
01:21:44,880 --> 01:21:48,316
the bright idea like,
"Hey their van's outside."
1957
01:21:48,550 --> 01:21:50,986
- Then they like trashed
The Exploited's van.
1958
01:21:51,219 --> 01:21:52,420
(sirens)
1959
01:21:52,654 --> 01:21:54,055
- Exploited was bummed.
1960
01:21:54,289 --> 01:21:59,027
(sirens)
1961
01:22:02,264 --> 01:22:06,401
- I never considered
hardcore to be a musical
1962
01:22:06,635 --> 01:22:09,604
sound, I always thought
of it as a lifestyle,
1963
01:22:09,838 --> 01:22:10,906
an attitude.
1964
01:22:11,139 --> 01:22:12,874
- There weren't a lot of punks back then.
1965
01:22:13,108 --> 01:22:14,552
I mean, there was maybe two or three punks
1966
01:22:14,576 --> 01:22:15,744
in my high school, you know.
1967
01:22:15,977 --> 01:22:18,546
So, having that meeting place you saw
1968
01:22:18,780 --> 01:22:20,700
that there was other people
you share your ideas,
1969
01:22:20,916 --> 01:22:22,593
you learn about other bands, exchange your
1970
01:22:22,617 --> 01:22:25,220
fanzines, you know all
that kind of good stuff.
1971
01:22:25,453 --> 01:22:27,389
And it really strengthened
the local scene.
1972
01:22:27,622 --> 01:22:30,191
First of all, it gave
bands like us the chance
1973
01:22:30,425 --> 01:22:31,860
to get in front and get our name
1974
01:22:32,093 --> 01:22:33,253
out to all these areas 'cause
1975
01:22:33,328 --> 01:22:34,863
there was no internet.
1976
01:22:35,096 --> 01:22:37,265
That was our social network, City Gardens.
1977
01:22:37,499 --> 01:22:38,867
That was our...
1978
01:22:39,100 --> 01:22:41,036
Our Facebook was in the parking lot.
1979
01:22:41,269 --> 01:22:43,305
- [Linda] When
you go there and your
1980
01:22:43,538 --> 01:22:45,338
friends are there, and
people from the outside
1981
01:22:45,373 --> 01:22:46,653
come in, and they didn't belong.
1982
01:22:46,875 --> 01:22:48,452
And it's like, "What are you doin' here?
1983
01:22:48,476 --> 01:22:50,912
"It's our club, get out of my pit."
1984
01:22:51,146 --> 01:22:53,448
- City Gardens had a great hardcore
1985
01:22:53,682 --> 01:22:56,384
scene there, they would
get The New York bands,
1986
01:22:56,618 --> 01:22:59,721
they would get the D.C.
bands to come up and play.
1987
01:23:00,055 --> 01:23:02,390
And you could see it almost week by week,
1988
01:23:02,624 --> 01:23:04,626
if not month by month,
1989
01:23:04,859 --> 01:23:07,162
the face of the crowd's changing.
1990
01:23:07,395 --> 01:23:10,332
- A thousand or 1,400 kids goin' crazy
1991
01:23:10,565 --> 01:23:12,901
for you, and you know,
it literally looks like
1992
01:23:13,134 --> 01:23:14,814
they're beatin' the shit out of each other
1993
01:23:15,003 --> 01:23:16,805
and climbin' over bouncers to get on
1994
01:23:17,038 --> 01:23:18,440
stage and stage dive.
1995
01:23:18,673 --> 01:23:20,108
And that's a fuckin' rush, man.
1996
01:23:20,408 --> 01:23:21,986
- These are times when
people just came out
1997
01:23:22,010 --> 01:23:23,979
to a show and really enjoyed the show.
1998
01:23:24,212 --> 01:23:25,212
- Simple hardcore.
1999
01:23:25,413 --> 01:23:26,181
- Simple.
- Boom.
2000
01:23:26,414 --> 01:23:27,854
- Some people perceived City Gardens
2001
01:23:27,882 --> 01:23:29,562
as being violent, but
I wouldn't say it was
2002
01:23:29,651 --> 01:23:33,822
violent, it was more like
mutually agreed upon,
2003
01:23:34,055 --> 01:23:38,026
kind of orchestrated dance.
2004
01:23:38,259 --> 01:23:41,997
- The pit, in the Suicidal days in '85,
2005
01:23:42,230 --> 01:23:46,534
it was such as unbelievably fun experience
2006
01:23:46,768 --> 01:23:48,203
in a physical sense.
2007
01:23:48,436 --> 01:23:50,105
- It made you believe
2008
01:23:50,338 --> 01:23:52,207
that you're invincible.
2009
01:23:52,440 --> 01:23:55,043
Man, when you go inside that crowd...
2010
01:23:55,276 --> 01:23:56,511
You didn't wanna go home.
2011
01:23:56,745 --> 01:23:57,879
You know what I mean?
2012
01:23:58,113 --> 01:23:59,824
Just stay in the club,
sleep on the fuckin' floor.
2013
01:23:59,848 --> 01:24:00,882
It was amazing.
2014
01:24:01,116 --> 01:24:03,284
- From '82 to '86, you know,
2015
01:24:03,518 --> 01:24:08,256
we saw hardcore sort of emerge.
2016
01:24:08,823 --> 01:24:12,060
And what started off as really fun,
2017
01:24:12,293 --> 01:24:13,962
turned absolutely scary.
2018
01:24:14,195 --> 01:24:15,573
And there were guys and it was like,
2019
01:24:15,597 --> 01:24:17,399
in the braces, and the shaved heads,
2020
01:24:17,632 --> 01:24:20,869
and all of a sudden this
was not Minor Threat
2021
01:24:21,102 --> 01:24:22,904
that I loved straight edge hardcore.
2022
01:24:23,138 --> 01:24:24,172
This was something else.
2023
01:24:24,406 --> 01:24:26,207
- I didn't quite realize
that there was such
2024
01:24:26,441 --> 01:24:29,577
like, this Neo-Nazi thing going on
2025
01:24:29,811 --> 01:24:32,747
and for whatever reason,
Pennsylvania was like
2026
01:24:32,981 --> 01:24:35,717
the hub, and Trenton was close enough.
2027
01:24:35,950 --> 01:24:39,020
- People had these really fucked up ideas
2028
01:24:39,254 --> 01:24:41,322
of the way that things should be,
2029
01:24:41,556 --> 01:24:42,924
and we didn't have that idea.
2030
01:24:43,158 --> 01:24:46,027
- Punks like punks.
2031
01:24:46,261 --> 01:24:47,529
Period.
2032
01:24:49,030 --> 01:24:51,232
There's different factions of skins,
2033
01:24:51,466 --> 01:24:52,986
white power skins, there are clean cut
2034
01:24:53,168 --> 01:24:56,271
American skins, Christian
skins, the freakin'...
2035
01:24:56,504 --> 01:24:58,039
There was a shit load of skins,
2036
01:24:58,273 --> 01:25:01,076
but only thing that bonded 'em together,
2037
01:25:01,309 --> 01:25:04,913
all skins are violent,
all skins like skins.
2038
01:25:05,146 --> 01:25:06,181
Period.
2039
01:25:06,414 --> 01:25:08,750
- There were people there that
2040
01:25:08,983 --> 01:25:11,086
would actually fuckin' murder somebody
2041
01:25:11,319 --> 01:25:14,889
for you, if they were your friend.
2042
01:25:15,123 --> 01:25:19,227
That's as close as you can come to being
2043
01:25:19,461 --> 01:25:21,763
related to somebody who
you barely even knew.
2044
01:25:21,996 --> 01:25:23,865
They were just down with you because
2045
01:25:24,099 --> 01:25:25,467
they liked your band.
2046
01:25:25,700 --> 01:25:27,144
- I mean, that's actually when I quit,
2047
01:25:27,168 --> 01:25:29,637
when I just stopped,
'case I had a real job.
2048
01:25:29,871 --> 01:25:31,551
And you know, doin' this shit Sunday night
2049
01:25:31,673 --> 01:25:33,084
and stuff like that it
like, Monday morning
2050
01:25:33,108 --> 01:25:34,652
I gotta go to work,
and there was something
2051
01:25:34,676 --> 01:25:36,578
going on, some kind of thing going on.
2052
01:25:36,811 --> 01:25:38,255
I remember being outside
and somebody yelled,
2053
01:25:38,279 --> 01:25:39,657
"He's got, that guy's
got a gun", or something.
2054
01:25:39,681 --> 01:25:42,283
(laughs) Man, I'm not
gettin' shot for $40.
2055
01:25:42,517 --> 01:25:45,086
This shit isn't worth
it, I'm done with this.
2056
01:25:45,320 --> 01:25:47,322
- Jocks would come out
and they'd try to get
2057
01:25:47,555 --> 01:25:50,291
in to the whole, you know, the pit
2058
01:25:50,525 --> 01:25:51,845
and the whole like dancing thing.
2059
01:25:51,993 --> 01:25:53,270
And they thought, "Hey this is fun."
2060
01:25:53,294 --> 01:25:54,538
And marines would come out and start
2061
01:25:54,562 --> 01:25:55,682
wailing on people and stuff,
2062
01:25:55,864 --> 01:25:57,664
and it was like, that's
not what it was about.
2063
01:25:57,732 --> 01:26:01,569
- We would always stop
and break up the fights
2064
01:26:01,803 --> 01:26:04,906
or if need be, we would go right in there.
2065
01:26:05,140 --> 01:26:07,242
Get off stage and break up fights,
2066
01:26:07,475 --> 01:26:10,011
and we had to do that
numerous times at that club.
2067
01:26:10,245 --> 01:26:11,479
- It was like real shit,
2068
01:26:11,713 --> 01:26:14,349
these were like, real people coming from
2069
01:26:14,582 --> 01:26:19,020
cities and fucked up parts of the suburbs,
2070
01:26:19,254 --> 01:26:20,788
and rich white kids, and they were all
2071
01:26:21,022 --> 01:26:22,590
converging on this one place.
2072
01:26:22,824 --> 01:26:25,293
And you know, it was going to get real
2073
01:26:25,527 --> 01:26:26,995
at one point or the other.
2074
01:26:27,228 --> 01:26:28,963
- You'd be in the pit right?
2075
01:26:29,197 --> 01:26:31,699
And the band didn't even start yet.
2076
01:26:31,933 --> 01:26:34,836
And we're gonna rock, rock...
2077
01:26:35,069 --> 01:26:36,771
Just hit the chord, just hit the chord,
2078
01:26:37,005 --> 01:26:38,415
just touch the guitar, all you gotta do
2079
01:26:38,439 --> 01:26:40,119
touch the guitar, touch it, touch it once,
2080
01:26:40,208 --> 01:26:41,352
I'm punching this mother
fucker right here.
2081
01:26:41,376 --> 01:26:42,553
Touch it, touch the fuckin' guitar!
2082
01:26:42,577 --> 01:26:43,978
Boom! (laughs)
2083
01:26:44,212 --> 01:26:46,147
It was beautiful and
the fights would start.
2084
01:26:46,381 --> 01:26:49,984
- We had to do that in
a way just to sort of,
2085
01:26:51,019 --> 01:26:52,887
you know, you invite
somebody in to your house
2086
01:26:53,121 --> 01:26:55,056
and they start breaking shit.
2087
01:26:55,290 --> 01:26:56,324
You're like, "No."
2088
01:26:56,558 --> 01:26:58,993
- Violence was the trade off
2089
01:26:59,227 --> 01:27:02,163
for the club's proximity to the suburbs.
2090
01:27:03,565 --> 01:27:05,667
Suburban kids
2091
01:27:06,568 --> 01:27:09,070
don't actually have the street smarts
2092
01:27:09,304 --> 01:27:10,371
that they think they have.
2093
01:27:10,605 --> 01:27:12,840
Or I should say that if your street smarts
2094
01:27:13,074 --> 01:27:15,977
is formed entirely by what you've read in
2095
01:27:16,211 --> 01:27:19,013
a hardcore band's lyric sheet,
2096
01:27:19,247 --> 01:27:21,849
you are coming into things with a very
2097
01:27:22,083 --> 01:27:23,685
sort of idealized fantasy.
2098
01:27:23,918 --> 01:27:25,520
That made the violence aspect of it
2099
01:27:25,753 --> 01:27:27,655
actually much worse at
City Gardens than it was
2100
01:27:27,889 --> 01:27:29,257
at clubs in the city.
2101
01:27:29,490 --> 01:27:30,892
And I think that's why, eventually,
2102
01:27:31,125 --> 01:27:32,860
towards the end of the
'80's a lot of people
2103
01:27:33,094 --> 01:27:34,996
with kind of jock
mentalities started coming
2104
01:27:35,230 --> 01:27:37,765
to shows, because those guys I don't think
2105
01:27:37,999 --> 01:27:40,568
had the, I don't think
they had the ability
2106
01:27:40,802 --> 01:27:43,238
to decode they lyrics of what that music
2107
01:27:43,471 --> 01:27:45,073
had been about for a long time.
2108
01:27:45,306 --> 01:27:48,743
You know, themes like
fear, and depression,
2109
01:27:48,977 --> 01:27:50,457
and self-loathing, and other kinds of
2110
01:27:50,678 --> 01:27:52,547
transgressive attitudes, you know.
2111
01:27:52,780 --> 01:27:55,183
They just heard the rage that was locked
2112
01:27:55,416 --> 01:27:56,951
up inside the sound of that music,
2113
01:27:57,185 --> 01:27:59,187
and then used it as a soundtrack to pummel
2114
01:27:59,420 --> 01:28:01,889
people that they felt were different or
2115
01:28:02,123 --> 01:28:03,424
just were smaller than them.
2116
01:28:03,658 --> 01:28:06,594
- Tut basically said
to Randy, "Stop booking
2117
01:28:06,828 --> 01:28:08,796
"bands that are gonna
bring skinheads out."
2118
01:28:09,030 --> 01:28:11,099
You know, I think Randy's reaction was,
2119
01:28:11,332 --> 01:28:13,534
"Those shows bring kids in and I make
2120
01:28:13,768 --> 01:28:14,802
"money from those shows."
2121
01:28:15,036 --> 01:28:18,206
So I think the first
way Randy sort of tried
2122
01:28:18,439 --> 01:28:20,608
to bend Tut's rule was, well we're
2123
01:28:20,842 --> 01:28:24,245
just gonna ban Doc Martens.
2124
01:28:24,479 --> 01:28:27,715
Which again, I think is a great example
2125
01:28:27,949 --> 01:28:29,817
of Randy's big heart which was,
2126
01:28:30,051 --> 01:28:32,487
yeah Tut laid down this rule,
2127
01:28:32,720 --> 01:28:35,223
but as a business man and also as
2128
01:28:35,456 --> 01:28:36,958
somebody who's tryin' to do something
2129
01:28:37,191 --> 01:28:38,869
for the kids in this area, let's see if we
2130
01:28:38,893 --> 01:28:40,495
can find another solution without
2131
01:28:40,728 --> 01:28:42,363
actually canceling these shows.
2132
01:28:43,498 --> 01:28:44,538
- [Roger] You as a singer,
2133
01:28:44,699 --> 01:28:46,677
you had the voice, you had
control of that whole...
2134
01:28:46,701 --> 01:28:48,936
I control that whole
crowd any given moment,
2135
01:28:49,170 --> 01:28:51,839
if I told them to smash
the place they would.
2136
01:28:52,073 --> 01:28:55,109
If I told them that hey, "Quit the B.S.
2137
01:28:55,343 --> 01:28:56,911
"this is not what it's about",
2138
01:28:57,145 --> 01:28:59,180
which I always did, it's about unity.
2139
01:28:59,414 --> 01:29:01,282
It's about being together, they'd listen.
2140
01:29:01,516 --> 01:29:03,351
- And I can remember
at the Bad Brains show,
2141
01:29:03,584 --> 01:29:05,486
them actually cooperating
and the fact that
2142
01:29:05,720 --> 01:29:09,123
it got out of hand wild,
and HR and the band
2143
01:29:09,357 --> 01:29:11,259
would say, "We're gonna do some reggae
2144
01:29:11,492 --> 01:29:12,569
"for a while", and that actually calmed
2145
01:29:12,593 --> 01:29:13,593
people down.
2146
01:29:13,728 --> 01:29:17,098
(🎜 guitar strumming 🎜)
2147
01:29:24,972 --> 01:29:26,517
- [Randy] Of course on the last song all
2148
01:29:26,541 --> 01:29:27,642
hell would break loose.
2149
01:29:27,875 --> 01:29:29,186
You know, the last song of the show
2150
01:29:29,210 --> 01:29:30,487
or the encore, "I'm gonna jump off the
2151
01:29:30,511 --> 01:29:31,655
"fuckin' stage. What are they gonna do?
2152
01:29:31,679 --> 01:29:32,999
"Throw me out? The show is over."
2153
01:29:33,047 --> 01:29:34,658
- [Tim] That last song
we'd be sitting there
2154
01:29:34,682 --> 01:29:37,618
and basically spending
more time looking around
2155
01:29:37,852 --> 01:29:40,855
and checking for bouncers,
making sure we had
2156
01:29:41,089 --> 01:29:44,559
a clear path to get up
on the stage and dive.
2157
01:29:46,027 --> 01:29:47,571
- [Linda] They were trying to control it,
2158
01:29:47,595 --> 01:29:50,398
but taking slam dancing out of a punk rock
2159
01:29:50,631 --> 01:29:52,533
show would not make it a punk rock show.
2160
01:29:52,767 --> 01:29:55,069
So, being that it was
punk we're rebels anyway.
2161
01:29:55,303 --> 01:29:56,583
So like, who's gonna read signs?
2162
01:29:56,804 --> 01:29:57,881
Like, we're there to have fun.
2163
01:29:57,905 --> 01:30:00,708
- (guitar playing)
- Last night in New York,
2164
01:30:00,942 --> 01:30:03,411
just a handful of thugs in the crowd.
2165
01:30:03,644 --> 01:30:06,247
They didn't do much, but everybody else
2166
01:30:06,481 --> 01:30:08,049
just stood there petrified,
2167
01:30:08,282 --> 01:30:09,842
they didn't wanna react or show emotion
2168
01:30:09,951 --> 01:30:11,419
or anything.
2169
01:30:11,853 --> 01:30:13,488
In other words, the people we all hated
2170
01:30:13,721 --> 01:30:15,356
in school are back.
2171
01:30:15,590 --> 01:30:19,727
(audience cheering)
2172
01:30:19,961 --> 01:30:23,097
Aside from that, I like dancin' around.
2173
01:30:23,331 --> 01:30:25,066
I like jumpin' off a stage.
2174
01:30:25,299 --> 01:30:27,435
We don't mind it if you're cool about it,
2175
01:30:27,668 --> 01:30:29,370
but are you gettin' anything out of it?
2176
01:30:29,604 --> 01:30:31,672
(audience cheering)
2177
01:30:31,906 --> 01:30:33,908
I mean sometimes I wonder whether
2178
01:30:34,142 --> 01:30:37,445
so called hardcore has become just another
2179
01:30:37,678 --> 01:30:41,115
thrill ritual like
riding a roller coaster,
2180
01:30:41,349 --> 01:30:44,752
skating a pipe, or a metal show,
2181
01:30:44,986 --> 01:30:47,688
or Duran Duran or whatever.
2182
01:30:48,456 --> 01:30:51,259
I think dancing's cool,
as long as it isn't
2183
01:30:51,492 --> 01:30:54,595
a mindless reaction, you know what I mean?
2184
01:30:54,829 --> 01:30:56,709
Come here, get your
thrills, dive off the stage,
2185
01:30:56,798 --> 01:30:58,866
go home, and learn nothing.
2186
01:31:00,735 --> 01:31:02,403
That kind of thing makes us feel like
2187
01:31:02,637 --> 01:31:04,472
we've totally fuckin' failed.
2188
01:31:04,705 --> 01:31:06,016
- [Johnny] For insurance reasons,
2189
01:31:06,040 --> 01:31:08,109
no stage diving, no slam dancing.
2190
01:31:08,342 --> 01:31:10,411
You know, you had to have a disclaimer.
2191
01:31:10,645 --> 01:31:12,547
In fact, I think if I'm not mistaken
2192
01:31:12,780 --> 01:31:14,715
there were shows where you had to sign
2193
01:31:14,949 --> 01:31:16,117
wavers and things like that,
2194
01:31:16,350 --> 01:31:18,352
so if you got hurt it was your business.
2195
01:31:20,388 --> 01:31:23,958
- [Lou] If you knew the backstage area,
2196
01:31:24,192 --> 01:31:25,869
there was the stage and
there was this little
2197
01:31:25,893 --> 01:31:27,573
booth lookin' thing and it was a backstage
2198
01:31:27,662 --> 01:31:29,330
and it had this tiny little window.
2199
01:31:29,564 --> 01:31:31,566
It was like maybe three feet high
2200
01:31:31,799 --> 01:31:33,968
by two feet wide, and I remember starting
2201
01:31:34,202 --> 01:31:35,679
our show and the place is going crazy,
2202
01:31:35,703 --> 01:31:37,672
and you see Dave Vision stand up in that
2203
01:31:37,905 --> 01:31:39,273
little window and dive from the
2204
01:31:39,507 --> 01:31:40,942
backstage into the crowd.
2205
01:31:41,175 --> 01:31:42,443
(laughs)
2206
01:31:42,677 --> 01:31:44,121
See that's what City Gardens was like.
2207
01:31:44,145 --> 01:31:45,722
There was no stage
diving, but then the most
2208
01:31:45,746 --> 01:31:48,416
insane action would happen
on that dance floor.
2209
01:31:48,649 --> 01:31:51,586
- We had let the kids
basically do whatever
2210
01:31:51,819 --> 01:31:53,187
they wanted to do.
2211
01:31:53,421 --> 01:31:55,323
We were the first venue in the area
2212
01:31:55,556 --> 01:31:56,791
doing punk rock.
2213
01:31:57,024 --> 01:31:59,126
You know, with Dead
Kennedys and Black Flag.
2214
01:31:59,360 --> 01:32:01,796
If kids wanted to jump up and jump off the
2215
01:32:02,029 --> 01:32:04,198
stage we let 'em, if they wanted to hang
2216
01:32:04,432 --> 01:32:06,100
from the girder we let 'em.
2217
01:32:06,334 --> 01:32:07,734
We let 'em do whatever they wanted.
2218
01:32:07,935 --> 01:32:09,804
But then all of a sudden we'd come to
2219
01:32:10,037 --> 01:32:11,806
the mailbox, we'd have
a little yellow slip
2220
01:32:12,039 --> 01:32:13,679
that says, "You have a certified letter."
2221
01:32:13,841 --> 01:32:15,009
- I've been in the pit.
2222
01:32:15,243 --> 01:32:18,045
Like I was the feisty little girl.
2223
01:32:18,279 --> 01:32:20,781
Ya know, I still have
my first pair of Docs,
2224
01:32:21,015 --> 01:32:22,759
and they're all scuffed
up and I would be out
2225
01:32:22,783 --> 01:32:24,785
there and I've got like ripped open
2226
01:32:25,019 --> 01:32:26,287
band shirts and stuff.
2227
01:32:26,521 --> 01:32:27,841
I took a couple to the chin quite
2228
01:32:27,889 --> 01:32:29,290
a few times.
2229
01:32:29,524 --> 01:32:32,326
And then he'd yell at
me like, "You're gonna
2230
01:32:32,560 --> 01:32:34,228
"get me sewed, your grandparents are
2231
01:32:34,462 --> 01:32:35,563
"going to sew me!"
2232
01:32:35,796 --> 01:32:36,831
- You're being sewed,
2233
01:32:37,064 --> 01:32:38,799
this person who went to your show
2234
01:32:39,033 --> 01:32:40,234
broke his arm.
2235
01:32:40,468 --> 01:32:42,308
- They didn't care if
Randy was throwing people
2236
01:32:42,403 --> 01:32:44,472
out or not, there were people doing flips,
2237
01:32:44,705 --> 01:32:45,806
like back flips off.
2238
01:32:46,040 --> 01:32:47,241
I mean, it was just awesome.
2239
01:32:47,475 --> 01:32:49,810
- And then, it would happen again
2240
01:32:50,044 --> 01:32:51,522
and it was gettin' a little more frequent,
2241
01:32:51,546 --> 01:32:52,680
a little more frequent.
2242
01:32:52,914 --> 01:32:55,016
- They probably got as
hurt as they always did,
2243
01:32:55,249 --> 01:32:56,884
but they didn't react the way that they
2244
01:32:57,118 --> 01:32:59,253
did before that.
2245
01:32:59,487 --> 01:33:01,822
They were actually trying to make a payday
2246
01:33:02,056 --> 01:33:03,534
out of it which was
really, really fucked up.
2247
01:33:03,558 --> 01:33:04,659
It's like, you know.
2248
01:33:04,892 --> 01:33:06,172
You want this club to stay open?
2249
01:33:06,227 --> 01:33:07,471
Do you wanna go see these bands?
2250
01:33:07,495 --> 01:33:09,330
There's very few people
booking these bands.
2251
01:33:12,166 --> 01:33:14,335
- [Randy] I had to buy
the policies, ya know.
2252
01:33:14,569 --> 01:33:15,569
A thousand dollars.
2253
01:33:15,670 --> 01:33:16,980
So and then once again,
you're talkin' about
2254
01:33:17,004 --> 01:33:18,072
did we make money?
2255
01:33:18,306 --> 01:33:19,946
You know, a thousand people at a show for
2256
01:33:20,074 --> 01:33:22,376
ten or 12 dollars, ya
know, ten percent of that
2257
01:33:22,610 --> 01:33:24,879
just went for an insurance policy.
2258
01:33:25,112 --> 01:33:26,256
- [Marc] There were times when Randy
2259
01:33:26,280 --> 01:33:28,049
would just say, "I
can't. No", he would say,
2260
01:33:28,282 --> 01:33:30,618
"No", and he'd look all
sheepish and sort of
2261
01:33:30,851 --> 01:33:32,587
sad about it and he'd say, "Tut basically
2262
01:33:32,820 --> 01:33:34,121
"said we can't."
2263
01:33:34,355 --> 01:33:37,458
And so, that sort of was my understanding
2264
01:33:37,692 --> 01:33:38,693
of how things worked.
2265
01:33:38,926 --> 01:33:40,566
Randy had a certain threshold that he was
2266
01:33:40,761 --> 01:33:42,201
allowed to go up to as long as money
2267
01:33:42,363 --> 01:33:44,599
was being made, but if there was pressure
2268
01:33:44,832 --> 01:33:46,276
being put on the club, if the cops were
2269
01:33:46,300 --> 01:33:48,069
snoopin' around, Tut
was like, "I don't want
2270
01:33:48,302 --> 01:33:50,062
"any part of this, Randy.
So find another way
2271
01:33:50,104 --> 01:33:51,973
"to make this happen, don't book those
2272
01:33:52,206 --> 01:33:53,407
"bands anymore."
2273
01:33:53,641 --> 01:33:56,377
- I'd get on the stage
in front of 600 kids
2274
01:33:56,611 --> 01:33:58,145
and say, "We can't do it anymore,
2275
01:33:58,379 --> 01:34:01,415
"you're sewing us! You,
I'm not sewing you,
2276
01:34:01,649 --> 01:34:03,250
"you are sewing me."
2277
01:34:03,484 --> 01:34:05,553
- The whole vibe of the place changed,
2278
01:34:05,786 --> 01:34:07,306
and the big thing for me was it didn't
2279
01:34:07,521 --> 01:34:09,757
seem to have an appreciation
2280
01:34:09,991 --> 01:34:13,661
for how much work it took
to put these shows on.
2281
01:34:13,894 --> 01:34:16,998
How much work by Randy, by the bands,
2282
01:34:17,231 --> 01:34:19,300
by the people who worked at City Gardens.
2283
01:34:19,533 --> 01:34:22,103
That they just took
everything for granted.
2284
01:34:22,336 --> 01:34:24,739
(rock music)
2285
01:34:24,972 --> 01:34:28,376
- [Steve] I also remember going to
2286
01:34:29,243 --> 01:34:32,179
buying tickets and Randy being completely
2287
01:34:32,413 --> 01:34:34,782
pissed off because
2288
01:34:35,983 --> 01:34:39,420
Johnny Rotten never
showed up for a PIL show
2289
01:34:39,654 --> 01:34:40,921
that was sold out.
2290
01:34:41,155 --> 01:34:42,590
Just never came.
2291
01:34:42,823 --> 01:34:44,425
And he was pissed.
2292
01:34:45,359 --> 01:34:48,696
- [Randy] The bands were
wanting more and more.
2293
01:34:48,929 --> 01:34:51,866
And we had a Cramps show
and they wanted like,
2294
01:34:52,099 --> 01:34:54,335
$6,000 instead of $3,000.
2295
01:34:54,568 --> 01:34:57,772
And you know, tour buses,
and tractor trailers,
2296
01:34:58,005 --> 01:35:00,307
and breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
2297
01:35:02,276 --> 01:35:04,345
- [Amy] Just seeing Randy
2298
01:35:04,578 --> 01:35:07,648
and Tut, the toll that
it was taking on them.
2299
01:35:07,882 --> 01:35:09,984
You could just see them
getting more and more...
2300
01:35:10,217 --> 01:35:11,786
It was just grinding them down,
2301
01:35:12,019 --> 01:35:13,530
they were getting burned out that it was
2302
01:35:13,554 --> 01:35:14,655
just harder and harder.
2303
01:35:14,889 --> 01:35:16,524
They could never catch a break.
2304
01:35:16,757 --> 01:35:18,397
- I remember back then it was really easy
2305
01:35:18,626 --> 01:35:21,529
to throw shit balls at
a band and say like,
2306
01:35:21,762 --> 01:35:23,998
"Oh, this band sucks
'cause they're chargin'
2307
01:35:24,231 --> 01:35:25,231
"nine dollars."
2308
01:35:25,433 --> 01:35:26,953
You know, and Fugazi would come around
2309
01:35:27,101 --> 01:35:29,170
and charge four.
2310
01:35:29,403 --> 01:35:31,083
I would go like, "Oh this band is a ripoff
2311
01:35:31,272 --> 01:35:32,616
"and a sellout", and Randy would go like,
2312
01:35:32,640 --> 01:35:34,175
"Hey, it's not my fault the band wants
2313
01:35:34,408 --> 01:35:35,676
"this much money."
2314
01:35:35,910 --> 01:35:37,421
And then in the end ultimately Tut ended
2315
01:35:37,445 --> 01:35:39,580
up looking like the bad guy, or the man,
2316
01:35:39,814 --> 01:35:41,716
or whatever 'cause he was the man.
2317
01:35:41,949 --> 01:35:43,250
You know?
2318
01:35:45,019 --> 01:35:47,755
- [Randy] The fun is not having lawsuits.
2319
01:35:48,589 --> 01:35:52,426
Fun is not taking your life in your hands.
2320
01:35:54,829 --> 01:35:57,164
- It's just when it stops being fun it's
2321
01:35:57,398 --> 01:35:59,133
time to hang it up.
2322
01:36:02,770 --> 01:36:04,739
- [Randy] I'm tired of
this, and that's when I
2323
01:36:04,972 --> 01:36:06,450
pretty much said, "I think we're gonna
2324
01:36:06,474 --> 01:36:08,142
"wrap this up."
2325
01:36:08,909 --> 01:36:13,848
(🎜 The Minutemen - 'Do You Want New Wave
Or Do you Want The Truth' music plays 🎜)
2326
01:36:21,789 --> 01:36:24,024
- When Randy left there I believe Tut
2327
01:36:24,258 --> 01:36:26,360
was still trying to keep
it going and booking
2328
01:36:26,594 --> 01:36:29,396
like local bands, and
I did see my friend's
2329
01:36:29,630 --> 01:36:31,599
local band there and there was,
2330
01:36:31,832 --> 01:36:32,832
you know, crickets.
2331
01:36:32,867 --> 01:36:34,311
It was 30 or 40 people in a club that
2332
01:36:34,335 --> 01:36:35,736
holds 900 plus.
2333
01:36:35,970 --> 01:36:37,738
Whoever was booking the shows at that time
2334
01:36:37,972 --> 01:36:40,141
didn't have the knowledge to bring bands
2335
01:36:40,374 --> 01:36:42,243
in there, it was all Randy.
2336
01:36:42,476 --> 01:36:44,812
Randy brought all of those bands there.
2337
01:36:48,883 --> 01:36:50,651
(train sounds)
2338
01:36:50,885 --> 01:36:53,354
(screeching)
2339
01:36:56,423 --> 01:37:01,362
(cheering)
2340
01:37:03,130 --> 01:37:05,166
🎜 One, two, three 🎜
2341
01:37:07,802 --> 01:37:10,805
(🎜 The Doughboys -
'Black Sheep' music plays 🎜)
2342
01:37:11,038 --> 01:37:12,506
🎜 I came out 🎜
2343
01:37:12,740 --> 01:37:14,008
🎜 Feet first 🎜
2344
01:37:14,241 --> 01:37:15,509
🎜 Jumped down runnin' 🎜
2345
01:37:15,743 --> 01:37:17,077
🎜 Quenchin' thirst 🎜
2346
01:37:17,311 --> 01:37:18,746
🎜 I'm feelin' bad 🎜
2347
01:37:18,979 --> 01:37:20,247
🎜 Some self rule 🎜
2348
01:37:20,481 --> 01:37:23,450
🎜 How I survive cause
with all attitude 🎜
2349
01:37:24,985 --> 01:37:28,556
🎜 I guess I arrive right on time 🎜
2350
01:37:30,791 --> 01:37:34,461
🎜 I'm as ripe as that
fruit from the vine 🎜
2351
01:37:34,695 --> 01:37:36,030
🎜 Yeah Yeah 🎜
2352
01:37:36,263 --> 01:37:42,136
🎜 You know they call me the black sheep 🎜
2353
01:37:42,369 --> 01:37:45,472
🎜 I'm runnin' wild, while y'all sleep 🎜
2354
01:37:45,706 --> 01:37:48,776
🎜 You know they call me the black sheep 🎜
2355
01:37:50,377 --> 01:37:51,937
- [Jim] People give him a lot of credit
2356
01:37:52,012 --> 01:37:54,849
and a lot of adulation for great shows.
2357
01:37:55,082 --> 01:37:57,685
"Oh he put on this ska show,
2358
01:37:57,918 --> 01:37:58,918
"or that hardcore show",
2359
01:37:59,119 --> 01:38:02,523
or this Nine Inch Nails show,
2360
01:38:02,756 --> 01:38:04,024
or whatever.
2361
01:38:04,258 --> 01:38:06,178
And he gets a lot of credit
for individual shows,
2362
01:38:06,293 --> 01:38:08,462
and he's the guy who brought this huge
2363
01:38:08,696 --> 01:38:10,898
band to Trenton, New Jersey.
2364
01:38:11,131 --> 01:38:13,667
But, I don't think that
he really gets enough
2365
01:38:13,901 --> 01:38:17,504
credit for building the foundation of what
2366
01:38:17,738 --> 01:38:19,340
was to come and what could be built
2367
01:38:19,573 --> 01:38:20,908
on top of that.
2368
01:38:21,141 --> 01:38:22,786
- [Randy] But right
now, from Highland Park,
2369
01:38:22,810 --> 01:38:26,981
New Jersey, the Grip Weeds.
(cheering)
2370
01:38:33,687 --> 01:38:35,647
(🎜 The Grip Weeds -
'Every Minute' music plays 🎜)
2371
01:38:42,029 --> 01:38:44,198
- All this hard work that he put in
2372
01:38:44,431 --> 01:38:47,234
at this club that he loved has resulted
2373
01:38:47,468 --> 01:38:50,170
in having absolutely nothing but memories.
2374
01:38:50,404 --> 01:38:53,407
There's no retirement money there,
2375
01:38:53,641 --> 01:38:55,576
there's no way to really support himself,
2376
01:38:55,809 --> 01:38:57,089
and he's still workin' like dog,
2377
01:38:57,278 --> 01:38:59,780
and I think that's...
2378
01:39:00,414 --> 01:39:03,617
For me that's the sadness
of the whole little story.
2379
01:39:05,085 --> 01:39:06,329
- [Director's Voice] What do
these all sort of mean
2380
01:39:06,353 --> 01:39:07,855
to you, this whole collection?
2381
01:39:08,856 --> 01:39:10,257
(sighs)
2382
01:39:10,491 --> 01:39:12,092
- What does it mean to me?
2383
01:39:12,326 --> 01:39:15,930
Ya know, now at 54
2384
01:39:16,163 --> 01:39:19,466
and the way the economy is and
2385
01:39:19,700 --> 01:39:22,770
how I'm really not makin' any money,
2386
01:39:23,003 --> 01:39:24,643
I wish I'd never bought all these things,
2387
01:39:24,838 --> 01:39:26,273
I wish I had the money instead,
2388
01:39:26,507 --> 01:39:28,375
or I invested it.
2389
01:39:28,609 --> 01:39:31,278
I have no retirement, you know.
2390
01:39:31,512 --> 01:39:32,546
It's all gone.
2391
01:39:32,780 --> 01:39:35,549
- Because in the end, City Gardens was
2392
01:39:35,783 --> 01:39:37,384
a mom and pop organization.
2393
01:39:37,618 --> 01:39:40,387
The building was owned by one guy,
2394
01:39:40,621 --> 01:39:42,890
the shows were booked by one guy.
2395
01:39:43,123 --> 01:39:46,226
- You know, he loves music.
2396
01:39:46,460 --> 01:39:49,263
Even though it's kicked him on his ass.
2397
01:39:49,496 --> 01:39:54,234
(rock music)
2398
01:39:54,468 --> 01:39:57,504
(cheering)
2399
01:39:57,738 --> 01:40:00,074
- [Randy] Thank you very much.
2400
01:40:04,578 --> 01:40:07,247
- [Johnny] When you think
of legendary venues,
2401
01:40:07,481 --> 01:40:10,684
CBGB's, the Troubadour in California,
2402
01:40:10,918 --> 01:40:12,820
even The Cavern Club in Liverpool,
2403
01:40:13,053 --> 01:40:14,822
City Gardens isn't like that.
2404
01:40:15,055 --> 01:40:17,324
You can wear a CBGB's t-shirt,
2405
01:40:17,558 --> 01:40:19,259
and you know what that means.
2406
01:40:19,493 --> 01:40:21,173
Anybody can wear one, you know immediately
2407
01:40:21,395 --> 01:40:21,962
what that means.
2408
01:40:22,196 --> 01:40:23,664
There is no City Gardens t-shirt.
2409
01:40:23,897 --> 01:40:26,967
There's no kind of mental picture
2410
01:40:27,201 --> 01:40:28,335
of what City Gardens was.
2411
01:40:28,569 --> 01:40:31,872
City Gardens was the people, the bands,
2412
01:40:32,106 --> 01:40:34,041
and it was Randy Now.
2413
01:40:34,274 --> 01:40:36,110
- It wasn't a hardcore club,
2414
01:40:36,343 --> 01:40:37,611
it wasn't a punk club,
2415
01:40:37,845 --> 01:40:39,446
it wasn't a ska club.
2416
01:40:39,680 --> 01:40:42,383
I mean, different bands different nights.
2417
01:40:42,616 --> 01:40:45,119
You could see The Bad Brains one night,
2418
01:40:45,352 --> 01:40:48,188
Killing Joke the next night,
2419
01:40:48,422 --> 01:40:50,524
a ska band the next night.
2420
01:40:50,758 --> 01:40:52,192
I loved it for that.
2421
01:40:52,426 --> 01:40:53,837
- You know, he had a vision for what he
2422
01:40:53,861 --> 01:40:55,996
wanted to do and he made it happen.
2423
01:40:56,230 --> 01:40:59,900
At the time, as a local band you may have
2424
01:41:00,134 --> 01:41:02,636
your grumbles and gripes with Randy,
2425
01:41:03,737 --> 01:41:05,906
but in retrospect it was pretty selfless
2426
01:41:06,140 --> 01:41:07,674
what he was doing.
2427
01:41:07,908 --> 01:41:11,712
- The will to live life on your terms
2428
01:41:11,945 --> 01:41:15,816
is that life-long lesson
we get from this music.
2429
01:41:16,050 --> 01:41:18,352
- Some might look at it like, "Oh he's
2430
01:41:18,585 --> 01:41:19,653
"floggin' the dead horse."
2431
01:41:19,887 --> 01:41:21,655
But I don't look at it that way at all,
2432
01:41:21,889 --> 01:41:23,490
I look at every night as a new chance
2433
01:41:23,724 --> 01:41:28,362
to get out there and have fun and...
2434
01:41:28,595 --> 01:41:30,397
It's kinda the cavalcade of old hits.
2435
01:41:30,631 --> 01:41:32,833
It's like, I'd be playing Tooling for Anus
2436
01:41:33,067 --> 01:41:34,735
in the Holiday Inn in Secaucus when
2437
01:41:34,968 --> 01:41:36,437
I'm 80-years-old, you know.
2438
01:41:36,670 --> 01:41:38,672
- What motivates a person and what drives
2439
01:41:38,906 --> 01:41:40,841
a person to keep doing and getting better
2440
01:41:41,075 --> 01:41:43,444
at what they do or try to over a course
2441
01:41:43,677 --> 01:41:45,612
of a long time, that's
something you kinda...
2442
01:41:47,214 --> 01:41:48,734
Ya know, if touring and all that stuff
2443
01:41:48,916 --> 01:41:50,417
goes with the territory it just does.
2444
01:41:50,651 --> 01:41:53,187
Everybody has to go and work and to keep
2445
01:41:53,420 --> 01:41:55,422
the machine alive so to speak,
2446
01:41:55,656 --> 01:41:57,391
and connect with an audience.
2447
01:41:59,526 --> 01:42:01,695
Now live is funny cause you know there's
2448
01:42:01,929 --> 01:42:04,131
so much access now to anything,
2449
01:42:04,364 --> 01:42:05,799
but yet live is probably the most
2450
01:42:06,033 --> 01:42:08,035
important part of a bands life.
2451
01:42:08,268 --> 01:42:11,305
- For every venue that is jammed up right
2452
01:42:11,538 --> 01:42:12,306
now with bands trying to get out and into
2453
01:42:12,539 --> 01:42:16,043
these stages, there's
some empty elks lodge,
2454
01:42:16,276 --> 01:42:18,078
some empty Nights at Columbus Hall,
2455
01:42:18,312 --> 01:42:19,913
there's some empty basement somewhere
2456
01:42:20,147 --> 01:42:21,915
waiting for something to happen.
2457
01:42:22,149 --> 01:42:24,418
- No it never occurred to me that he would
2458
01:42:24,651 --> 01:42:26,753
ever be booking shows for venues that only
2459
01:42:26,987 --> 01:42:29,089
hold 50 people, but it
always occurred to me
2460
01:42:29,323 --> 01:42:30,667
that sooner or later someone's gonna wanna
2461
01:42:30,691 --> 01:42:32,493
make a movie about him.
2462
01:42:34,761 --> 01:42:37,231
(laughs) What is the logic in that?
2463
01:42:37,598 --> 01:42:40,100
- I mean to be quite honest,
2464
01:42:40,334 --> 01:42:41,774
and it might be a little naive of me
2465
01:42:42,002 --> 01:42:43,937
I just never thought
City Gardens would close.
2466
01:42:44,171 --> 01:42:46,006
I mean, I was so in the
moment with that place
2467
01:42:46,240 --> 01:42:47,951
up until the day that
somebody told me it closed,
2468
01:42:47,975 --> 01:42:50,744
I just assumed that I'd be in my 40's
2469
01:42:50,978 --> 01:42:54,114
and Randy would still
be bookin' shows there.
2470
01:42:54,348 --> 01:42:56,450
- We have a place in New Hope called
2471
01:42:56,683 --> 01:42:59,186
John and Peters, and the best part of
2472
01:42:59,419 --> 01:43:01,522
John and Peters is the
pictures on the wall.
2473
01:43:01,755 --> 01:43:03,035
It's not what they're doing now,
2474
01:43:03,090 --> 01:43:05,025
what they're doing now is nothing.
2475
01:43:05,259 --> 01:43:06,259
Absolutely nothing.
2476
01:43:06,326 --> 01:43:08,795
They're living off of
some old laurel somewhere,
2477
01:43:09,029 --> 01:43:10,831
and it's not good.
2478
01:43:11,064 --> 01:43:12,504
But you look at the wall and you go,
2479
01:43:12,599 --> 01:43:15,135
"Chris Christopherson
was here?", you know,
2480
01:43:15,369 --> 01:43:16,369
"When is he comin' back?"
2481
01:43:16,570 --> 01:43:17,914
He ain't comin' back,
none of those people...
2482
01:43:17,938 --> 01:43:19,382
They're all either dead or they're not
2483
01:43:19,406 --> 01:43:21,175
coming back to that room.
2484
01:43:21,408 --> 01:43:22,719
City Gardens is not living off of
2485
01:43:22,743 --> 01:43:24,711
the pictures on the wall which is great.
2486
01:43:24,945 --> 01:43:27,047
- One day I really would like to walk
2487
01:43:27,281 --> 01:43:29,016
through there again, I
don't know what would
2488
01:43:29,249 --> 01:43:31,218
be required, but I'd like
2489
01:43:31,451 --> 01:43:33,131
to turn the lights on and just kinda stand
2490
01:43:33,253 --> 01:43:35,522
around and just kinda eyeball it
2491
01:43:35,756 --> 01:43:37,291
one last time.
2492
01:43:38,091 --> 01:43:39,960
- The guy loves rock 'n' roll.
2493
01:43:49,803 --> 01:43:54,308
(🎜 House of Others -
'Memento Mori' music plays 🎜)
2494
01:44:10,757 --> 01:44:11,797
- Okay everybody let's go,
2495
01:44:11,992 --> 01:44:13,327
we gotta say goodnight.
179824
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